Studies have shown that the human microbiome influences the response to systemic immunotherapy. However, only scarce data exist on the impact of the urinary microbiome on the response rates of bladder cancer (BC) to local Bacillus Calmette-Guérin instillation therapy. We launched the prospective SILENT-EMPIRE study in 2022 to address this question. We report the results of the pilot study of SILENT-EMPIRE, which aimed to compare the microbiome between fresh frozen (FF) and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples in the cancerous tissue and adjacent healthy tissue of BC patients. Our results show that alpha diversity is increased in FF samples compared to FFPE (coverage index p = 0.041, core abundance index p = 0.008). No significant differences concerning alpha diversity could be detected between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue in the same BC patients. This study demonstrates that microbiome analysis from both FF and FFPE samples is feasible. Implementing this finding could aid in the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
Microorganisms. 2024 Dec 15*** epublish ***
Dominik Enderlin, Uwe Bieri, Jana Gadient, Yasser Morsy, Michael Scharl, Jan Hendrik Rüschoff, Lukas John Hefermehl, Anna Nikitin, Janine Langenauer, Daniel Stephan Engeler, Beat Förster, Fabian Obrecht, Jonathan Surber, Thomas Paul Scherer, Daniel Eberli, Cédric Poyet
Department of Urology, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland., Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland., Department of Pathology, and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland., Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Kantonsspital Baden, 5404 Baden, Switzerland., Department of Urology, Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen, School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen, 9007 St. Gallen, Switzerland., Department of Urology, Kantonsspital Winterthur, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland.