Gut Microbiome Might Affect Effectiveness and Adverse Effects of Immune Checkpoint–Inhibitor Therapy

Immune checkpoint–inhibitor (ICI) therapy has proved to be remarkably effective for certain cancers (NEJM JW Gen Med Jun 16 2015; [e-pub] and Nature 2014; 515:496). Recent studies show that the gut microbiome might influence the effectiveness of ICI therapy (NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 15 2017 and Science 2018; 359:97). A new study shows that the gut microbiome also can influence development of serious and even life-threatening autoimmune complications, most commonly colitis.

Stanford immunologists report that reducing the number of Bifidobacterium species in the gut worsened the severity of experimentally induced autoimmune colitis in mice. Probiotic therapy with multiple Bifidobacterium species prevented or greatly ameliorated autoimmune colitis, …