Gut bacteria may predict risk of life-threatening infections following chemotherapy

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uom-gbm042816.php

Public Release: 28-Apr-2016
Gut bacteria may predict risk of life-threatening infections following chemotherapy
Study could help physicians choose care path for some cancer patients
University of Minnesota

A new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota and Nantes University Hospital in France shows that the bacteria in people's gut may predict their risk of life-threatening blood infections following high-dose chemotherapy.

The study was published today in Genome Medicine, a peer-reviewed open access journal.

•••••

we found a consistent difference between the gut bacteria in those who developed infections and those who did not," said the study's co-author Dan Knights, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Biotechnology Institute.

•••••

While the predictive model used in this study was robust, the researchers caution that their findings are still based on a limited number of patients with a single type of chemotherapy at a single clinic. They say the next step is to validate their approach in a much larger cohort including patients with different cancer types, different treatment types, and from multiple treatment centers.

•••••