ASPO Abstracts
Health-related quality of life is associated with fecal microbial composition in breast cancer survivors
Category: Survivorship & Health Outcomes/Comparative Effectiveness Research
Conference Year: 2021
Abstract Body:
Purpose: To explore differences in fecal microbial composition between non-obese and obese female
breast cancer survivors (BCS) enrolled in a clinical trial and associations between individual microbiota
and health-related quality of life (QOL).
Methods: A cross-sectional substudy was conducted using samples and data collected at baseline on
BCS recruited from 2013-2014 to participate in a randomized controlled trial of a lifestyle intervention in
the Birmingham, AL area. Measures included anthropometrics, QOL (Short Form Health-related QOL
Survey-36 [SF-36]), and 16S rRNA sequencing of fecal samples. Participants were categorized by body
mass index (BMI) into non-obese (≤29.9 kg/m2; n=38) and obese (≥30.0 k/m2; n=32) groups.
Differences in bacterial taxa between groups were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of
variance. Spearman and partial correlations explored associations between taxa and SF-36 subscales.
Results: Most BCS (72.9%) were non-Hispanic white with average age of 61.6 (±8.7) years. Non-obese
BCS had a significantly higher relative abundance of Ruminococcus (p=0.003), Streptococcus
(p=0.049), Roseburia (p=0.035), and Dorea (p=0.003), and a lower relative abundance of
Pseudomonas (p=0.016) and Proteus (p=0.017). No differences were observed for SF-36 subscales
between groups. Overall, Tissierella Soehngenia was negatively correlated with Bodily Pain and Vitality
(Ï=-0.287, p=0.026; Ï=-0.302, p=0.02; respectively) and Proteus was positively correlated with Total
Physical Health subscale (Ï=0.290, p=0.027). Physical Functioning, Vitality, and Mental Health
subscales were negatively associated with Ruminococcus (Ï=-0.304, p=0.036; Ï=-0.361, p=0.012;
Ï=-0.495, p<0.001) and Dorea (Ï=-0.318, p=0.028; Ï=-0.33, p=0.022; Ï=-0.388, p=0.006) abundance
when controlling for BMI.
Conclusions: Fecal microbial composition differed between obese and non-obese BCS, with
associations between QOL and several microbial taxa. Several of these genera, previously identified as
potentially beneficial, such as Ruminococcus, Roseburia, and Dorea, may also influence QOL in BCS.
These results support further analyses to determine the role of individual microbiota in health-related
quality of life and obesity in cancer survivors.
Keywords: breast cancer; survivors; gut microbiome; quality of life