Associations of fecal microbial profiles with breast cancer and nonmalignant breast disease in the Ghana Breast Health Study. Issue 11 (26th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Byrd, Doratha A.; Vogtmann, Emily; Wu, Zeni; Han, Yongli; Wan, Yunhu; Clegg‐Lamptey, Joe‐Nat; Yarney, Joel; Wiafe‐Addai, Beatrice; Wiafe, Seth; Awuah, Baffour; Ansong, Daniel; Nyarko, Kofi; Hullings, Autumn G.; Hua, Xing; Ahearn, Thomas; Goedert, James J.; Shi, Jianxin; Knight, Rob; Figueroa, Jonine D.; Brinton, Louise A.; Garcia‐Closas, Montserrat; Sinha, Rashmi
• Is Part Of: International journal of cancer. Volume 148:Issue 11(2021)
• Page Start: 2712
• Page End: 2723
• Publication Date: 2021-02-26
• Subjects: breast cancer -- microbiome -- nonmalignant breast diseases; Cancer -- Periodicals; Cancer -- Prevention -- Periodicals; 616.994
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.33473
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0020-7136

Abstract

Abstract: The gut microbiota may play a role in breast cancer etiology by regulating hormonal, metabolic and immunologic pathways. We investigated associations of fecal bacteria with breast cancer and nonmalignant breast disease in a case‐control study conducted in Ghana, a country with rising breast cancer incidence and mortality. To do this, we sequenced the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize bacteria in fecal samples collected at the time of breast biopsy (N = 379 breast cancer cases, N = 102 nonmalignant breast disease cases, N = 414 population‐based controls). We estimated associations of alpha diversity (observed amplicon sequence variants [ASVs], Shannon index, and Faith's phylogenetic diversity), beta diversity (Bray‐Curtis and unweighted/weighted UniFrac distance), and the presence and relative abundance of select taxa with breast cancer and nonmalignant breast disease using multivariable unconditional polytomous logistic regression. All alpha diversity metrics were strongly, inversely associated with odds of breast cancer and for those in the highest relative to lowest tertile of observed ASVs, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.21 (0.13‐0.36; P trend < .001). Alpha diversity associations were similar for nonmalignant breast disease and breast cancer grade/molecular subtype. All beta diversity distance matrices and multiple taxa with possible estrogen‐conjugating and immune‐related functions were strongly associated with breast cancer (all P s < .001). There were no statistically significant differences between breast cancer and nonmalignant breast disease cases in any microbiota metric. In conclusion, fecal bacterial characteristics were strongly and similarly associated with breast cancer and nonmalignant breast disease. Our findings provide novel insight into potential microbially‐mediated mechanisms of breast disease. Abstract : What's new? The gut microbiome has been shown to affect a variety of physiological systems throughout the body. These authors conducted the largest known study investigating the association of gut bacteria with breast disease in Ghana, where breast cancer incidence is rising. They sequenced the 16S rRNA gene of fecal bacteria among 895 women (N = 379 breast cancer cases, N = 102 nonmalignant breast disease cases, N = 414 population‐based controls). They found that patients with breast cancer and non‐malignant breast disease had a similar fecal microbial profile, which differed from that of controls. Microbial alpha diversity was inversely associated with odds of breast cancer and non‐malignant breast disease.