VCCC Alliance Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer Symposium 2023 

Targeting the microbiome in patients with melanoma – ready for prime time?

27 May 2022

The gut microbiome

The gut microbiome has been shown to play a significant role in a multitude of human diseases and has become a focus of cancer research over the past five years. There is now strong evidence emerging that suggests that the composition of the gut microbiome impacts outcomes of patients with melanoma treated with immunotherapy.

Studies have shown that distinct groups of bacteria were elevated in patients that responded to immunotherapy and were different to those elevated in patients who did not respond.

A variety of approaches are currently being explored to test whether it is possible to improve responsiveness to immunotherapies by altering the microbiome, including Faecal Microbiota Transplants (FMTs), giving patients more defined groups of bacteria or a single species, and dietary changes.

This symposium will present the current evidence base and explore available and emerging interventions looking at ways of bringing research to practice.

A/Prof David Gyorki (VCCC Alliance Research & Education Lead for Melanoma and Skin Cancers) is joined by a multidisciplinary panel of experts for an insightful look into the role the gut microbiome plays in disease, and how the composition of the microbiome can impact the outcomes of immunotherapy in melanoma patients.

Learning Aim: Bring together a community of practice to explore a way forward for the translation of research into clinic for interventions targeting the microbiome in melanoma patients undergoing immunotherapy.

Learning Objectives: 

• Review the emerging research on the important relationship between the microbiome and response to immunotherapy, and provide awareness of how the microbiome can specifically influence the outcome of melanoma immunotherapy

• Explain the interventions that can alter the microbiome and potentially alter response to immunotherapy with implications for translation into practice

• Foster collaboration that will enable further research activities in this area, as well as help develop a framework for a prospective interventional study

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