Gut microbiota derived metabolite for pancreatic cancer

A gut microbiome-derived tryptophan metabolite could help treat pancreatic cancer and other solid tumors by decreasing expression of reactive oxygen species-degrading GPX enzymes, sensitizing cancer cells to chemotherapy.

Gut microbiota derived from chemotherapy-responsive and -resistant pancreatic cancer patients were transplanted into xenograft mouse models of pancreatic cancer, and mice that received microbiota from chemotherapy responders had smaller tumors than mice with microbiota from non-responders. Shotgun mass spectrometry analyses of serum from patients and matched microbiota recipient mice showed the tryptophan derivative indole-3-acetic acid (3-IAA) was enriched in chemotherapy responders and their recipients, and in two independent cohorts of pancreatic patients, higher serum levels of 3-IAA were correlated with greater progression-free survival and overall survival...