Journal Article Randomized Controlled Trial Epublish
PubMed: 40639850 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-011356
Enhancing outcomes in medically inoperable early-stage NSCLC with gut-targeted antibiotics and stereotactic body radiotherapy: results from a randomized pilot study.
J Immunother Cancer 13(7)
Authors: Steven Joel Feigenberg, Francesca Costabile, Ceylan Tanes, Kyle Bittinger, Roderick O'Connor, Divyansh Agarwal, Giorgos Skoufos, Silavano Salaris, Artemis Hatzigeorgiou, Nektarios Kostopoulos, Shane Lloyd, Cole Friedes, Lisha Chen, Nikhil Yegya-Raman, Keith Cengel, William Levin, Bakir Valentić, Tyler Quarton, Alexander A Shestov, Abigail Berman, Jeffrey Bradley, Amit Maity, Costantinos Koumenis, Edgar Ben-Josef, Andrea Facciabene
Affiliations
- Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- CHOP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- MGH, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece.
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy.
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Utah Health Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
- KBR Inc. Intelligent Systems Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA.
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Ovarian Cancer Research Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Gut microbiota modulation is an emerging strategy to improve cancer therapy outcomes. This study evaluated the safety and therapeutic potential of combining oral vancomycin-a non-absorbed, gut-restricted antibiotic with primary activity against gram-positive bacteria-with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The underlying hypothesis was that vancomycin-induced changes in gut microbiota could enhance the antitumor effects of SBRT.
METHODS
We conducted a randomized, open-label pilot study in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Patients received oral vancomycin (125 mg, four times daily for 5 weeks, starting 1 week prior to SBRT). Safety, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), gut microbiota composition, gut metabolome, and immune responses were evaluated.
RESULTS
The combination of vancomycin and SBRT was well tolerated, with no grade 3 or 4 adverse events reported. Vancomycin treatment selectively depleted certain bacterial strains while enriching others, leading to significant restructuring of the gut microbiota and alterations in the gut metabolome, including reductions in short-chain fatty acids and shifts in other important immunomodulatory metabolites. These changes were associated with dendritic cell and T cell activation, suggesting enhanced systemic immune engagement. Patients receiving vancomycin showed improved outcomes, with a PFS HR of 0.42 (95% CI 0.18 to 0.96; p=0.049) and OS HR of 0.38 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.99; p=0.033), compared with controls.
CONCLUSIONS
This pilot study demonstrates that gut microbiome modulation using a gram-positive-targeting, gut-restricted antibiotic in combination with SBRT is safe and may improve clinical outcomes in early-stage NSCLC. These findings support further investigation of targeted microbiome modulation strategies as adjuvants to immunogenic therapies like radiation.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT03546829.
MeSH
Radiotherapy, Pilot Projects, Cells, Pilots, Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Immunotherapy, Vancomycin, Therapeutics, Bacteria, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Microbiota