Study of Microbiomes in Aseptically Collected Samples of Human Breast Tissue Using Needle Biopsy and the Potential Role of in situ Tissue Microbiomes for Promoting Malignancy

Abstract

Mounting evidence suggests that changes in microbiome are linked to development of cancer and its aggressiveness. Microbiome profiles in human breast tissue previously presumed to be sterile, have recently been characterized using high-throughput technologies. Recent findings of microbiome variation between benign and malignant disease provides a rationale for exploring microbiomes associated with cancer during tumor progression. We assessed microbiomes of aseptically collected human breast tissue samples in this study, using needle biopsy from patients with benign and malignant tumors of different histological grading, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. This is consistent with previous studies, and our results identified distinct microbiome profiles in breast tissues from women with cancer as compared to women with benign breast disease in Chinese cohorts. The enriched microbial biomarkers in malignant tissue included genus Propionicimonas and families Micrococcaceae, Caulobacteraceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae, Methylobacteriaceae, which appeared to be ethno-specific. Further, we compared microbiome profiles in malignant tissues of three different histological grades. The relative abundance of family Bacteroidaceae decreased and that of genus Agrococcus increased with the development of malignancy. KEGG pathways inferred by PICRUSt showed that biotin and glycerophospholipid metabolism had significant differences in all three grades. Glycerophospholipid and ribosome biogenesis increased in grade III tissue as compared to grades I and II. Flavonoid biosynthesis significantly decreased in grade III tissue. The specific correlation of these potential microbial biomarkers and indicated pathways with advanced disease could have broad implications in the diagnosis and staging of breast cancer. Further large-cohort investigation of the breast cancer microbiome and its potential mechanism in breast cancer development are essential.

Thyroid-Gut-Axis: How Does the Microbiota Influence Thyroid Function?

“…Opportunistic pathogens may colonize in patients suffering from thyroid disease [124]. Several studies have demonstrated that dysbiosis of the microbiota could be caused by inflammatory processes and diverse cancer types [125][126][127].…”

Integrating the Tumor Microenvironment into Cancer Therapy

“…Several studies link the IMB to the maturation of the immune system, the structure of the TME, metabolism modulation, response to chemical and immunotherapeutic treatment, and most hallmarks of cancer [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. The existence of a tumor microbiota, found in situ in the TME, could, therefore, have major physiopathological and therapeutic implications [ 70 , 71 ]. All these functions perhaps partly owing to the privileged bidirectional communication between IMB and NS, through the so-called neurenteric axis, HPA regulator, and the accompanying homeostatic equilibrium triangle made up by the endocrine, immune and NS [ 72 ].…”

The Important Role of Breast Microbiota in Breast Cancer

“…Moreover, the alteration in breast microbiota correlates with the histological grade [27] (Table 1) of Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 21 October 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202010.0437.v1…”

“…the disease. These alterations affect functional changes, such as the up-regulation of glycerophospholipid and ribosome biogenesis as well as the down-regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis, as the grade of BC increases [27]. Hence, these suggest the potential use of microbial and pathway signatures as biomarkers for diagnosis and staging of BC.…”