Development of an in silico database for stratifying colorectal cancer patient cohorts: assessing the interplay between microbes and chemotherapies

The gut microbiota, a complex community of bacteria in our digestive system, varies significantly between individuals. Some bacteria are beneficial, whilst others harmful - yet the full impact of this variation isn’t fully understood. Generally, beneficial bacteria tend to improve gut health and harmful bacteria cause disease. For example, certain bacteria drive the emergence of colorectal tumours and, more insidiously, recent research shows they can reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Current research has identified genes in gut bacteria that can modify chemotherapy drugs. However, which bacteria have this ability remains unclear. Interestingly, our research suggests that beneficial bacteria can do this. This not only dispels the idea of good and bad bacteria, but also suggests that our understanding of the interactions between bacteria and chemotherapy is alarmingly incomplete.

This project will go some way to addressing this, so that we have a more complete understanding of which bacteria can reduce chemotherapy effectiveness and how they do it. This will enable us to inform clinical practice and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate treatment in a timelier manner. In turn, this will reduce patient harm through ineffective chemotherapy, whilst improving outcomes and survival through guiding the most effective chemotherapy regimens for individual cancer patients.