Correlation between Intestinal Microbial Characteristics and Pembrolizumab Resistance in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

HAO Hua; GAO Guorong; LI Juan; YANG Wenke; CAO Shuwei; XI Zhenfang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-3097.2024.06.028

Abstract：Objective The characteristics of intestinal microflora in Pembrolizumab-resistant and non-resistant patientswith colorectal cancer were analyzed and compared.Methods A total of 100 patients with colorectal cancer admitted toour hospital from January 2022 to January 2023 were selected as the study subjects.According to the tolerance of patients toPembrolizumab,they were divided into drug-resistant group (48 cases) and non-drug-resistant group (52 cases).The fecalsamples of the two groups were detected by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.The differences in α diversity and relative abundanceof species at the genus level between the two groups were analyzed,and the metabolic function of the flora was predicted.Thedifferences in metabolic function between the two groups were analyzed.Results The species abundance and community diversityof intestinal flora in the drug-resistant group were lower than those in the non-drug-resistant group,and the differenceswere statistically significant (P<0.05).Compared with the non-resistant group,the relative abundance of glucose metabolism,amino acid metabolism,lipid metabolism and exogenous biodegradation function in the resistant group increased.Subgroupanalysis showed that some differences in the abundance of intestinal flora (genus level) were related to the type of colorectalcancer.Conclusion The diversity of intestinal flora in patients with Pembrolizumab-resistant colorectal cancer decreased,and the metabolic function was biased towards sugar and amino acid metabolism,while the cofactor,vitamin metabolismand exogenous biodegradation function were weakened,and the difference in flora was related to tumor type.