Category: molecular tumor testing

Gut Bacteria Could Affect How We Respond to Immunotherapy

Did you know that your gut bacteria might predict whether or not you will respond to immunotherapy? Three different studies have found that responders and non-responders can be predicted based on the composition of their intestinal microbiota.1

What do the studies show?

One of the studies, conducted by Laurence Zitvogel at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, Paris, looked specifically at immunotherapy response by those with non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma. The study found that patients with more bacteria from the species Akkermansia muciniphila had the best response to anti-PD-1 therapy.

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Patience … It’s not easy, but it is worth it

When you are first diagnosed with lung cancer, everything seems to move at breakneck speed on one hand and on the other hand, time flows like molasses. You rush from one test to the next. My primary care doctor (PCP) felt a suspicious knot on my collarbone and astutely sent me for a CT scan that very day. The CT scan showed suspicious activity in my lungs so my PCP ordered a PET scan. The PET scan couldn’t happen until insurance approved its cost. Time slowed while we waited for that approval.

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