Pancreatic cancer: soon an early diagnosis via the fecal microbiota?

A team of researchers recently investigated the link between fecal and salivary microbiota and the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PD), the most common form of pancreatic cancer.

To do this, 2 cohorts of patients (136 Spanish patients and 76 German patients) were recruited and their saliva, stool and pancreatic tissue samples (tumor or healthy) were collected in order to perform analyses on the bacterial species that compose them.

Fecal microbiota, a new ally in pancreatic cancer detection?

While the salivary analyses did not provide much information, the analysis of the fecal microbiota proved to be particularly instructive and... hopeful. Indeed, 27 disease-specific bacterial species were identified and led to the construction of a statistical model for the identification of pancreatic cancer patients, regardless of the severity of their disease. The accuracy of detection was further enhanced by combining this model with the use of an existing marker used in pancreatic cancer (CA 19-9 carbohydrate antigen), but with low sensitivity and specificity.)

The researchers then confirmed their detection model on the second cohort of 76 German patients, as well as on 5792 patients from 18 different countries suffering from various pathologies (PA, obesity, diabetes, colorectal cancer...): in both cases, the signatures of the intestinal microbiota specific to PA are accurately detected.