PHILADELPHIA Microbiomes the microbe colonies found in the intestinal tract could serve as clinical biomarkers of susceptibility for different types of neuroblastoma according to a study that will be presented Tuesday June 3 in Philadelphia at the Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting. Neuroblastomas are highly aggressive forms of brain cancer that account for about 75 of all malignant brain tumors. Disease progression can be poor and treatment varies widely. Although neuroblastomas are often treated with surgery the recurrence rate is high reaching 12 percent for patients whose tumors also exhibit immune-mediated resistance. Previous studies have suggested that two common neuroblastoma subtypes may be linked to immune-mediated inflammation in the brain however no breed-related mouse model was available. The new study of 156 head and neck cancer patients is the first published in the world that further confirmed this consensus. The research team chose to discuss the findings at the Societys Neuro-Oncology-USA 2020 conference (NORDIC) since no patient demographic data were available making it difficult to the study from abroad.
The study demonstrated a link between intestinal microbome and neuroblastoma severity using the Mouse Risk Atlas a mouse model that has been studied enigmatically and grows five to 21 times faster than human patients. Microbiomes are the microorganisms known to help maintain a healthy intestinal tract and are mainly made up of bacteria derived from the intestine. The results of this study are of great relevance as a major component of drug development for neurological diseases including neuroblastoma as well as cancer where the need for new drugs is even greater.
