We recently published our first study that examines differences in the gastrointestinal (gut) flora that are possibly induced by prostate cancer treatment with androgen receptor-axis targeted therapies including enzalutamide and abiraterone acetate. Key findings include the observation of significant compositional differences in the gut microbiota of men taking oral formulations of medications that target the androgen receptor axis including a greater abundance of species previously linked to response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy such as Akkermansia muciniphila and Ruminococcaceae spp. In functional analyses, we found an enriched representation of bacterial gene pathways involved in steroid biosynthesis and steroid hormone biosynthesis in the fecal microbiota of men taking oral androgen axis targeting drugs. This study was funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation as part of a 2016 Challenge Award.
The study can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41391-018-0061-x
A commentary on our article published in Nature Reviews Urology can also be found here: rdcu.be/3R4d
A write up of our article and the topic by the Prostate Cancer Foundation can also be found here: https://www.pcf.org/news/crystal-ball-for-predicting-cancer-treatment-response-your-poop/