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Abstract
Introduction Microbiome plays an important role in development of cancer and response to chemotherapy. We aim to examine the significance of vaginal microbiome in epithelial ovarian cancer.
Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted for evaluating the vaginal microbiome in newly diagnosed epithelial ovarian cancer (NEOC) patients, post-chemotherapy (PC) patients and healthy women. Samples were collected using a swab. DNA was extracted and amplified by PCR using universal primers of the prokaryotic 16S ribosome. Next-generation sequencing and taxonomical classification was then performed.
Results Vaginal swab samples were collected from 21 NEOC patients, 27 PC and 22 controls. The microbiome analysis revealed statistically significant findings. Clostridiales bacterium S5 A14a and Anaerovoracaceae family were found to be abundant in patient who had previous malignancies (p<0.01) Clostridiales bacterium S5 A14a was also abundant in patient who had no pregnancies in the past (p<0.001). Clostridia UCG 014 family was found prominent in patient who died of disease (p<0.01).
Conclusion/Implications We demonstrated a significant difference in vaginal microbiome in EOC patients who had a history of other malignancies. Interestingly, the Clostridiales species that are prominent are studied as a risk factor for developing tumors in PTEN carrier and Anaerovoracaceae was linked to esophageal cancer. We also demonstrated Clostridia UCG 014 abundance in patients that died of disease, a finding that was previously shown in mice studies and in patients with lung cancer. This may suggest a group of patients that can benefit from microbiome mapping as a screening tool and as a marker for poor prognosis.
