QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MAPPING OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES COLONIZING THE INTESTINAL TRACT OF PATIENTS WITH COLORECTAL CANCER

• Grant number: 16/21966-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2017
• End date: January 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Mario Júlio Ávila-Campos
• Grantee: Mario Júlio Ávila-Campos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Colorectal neoplasms affect young and aged people of both genders in worldwide; however, these processes have high potential to be cured when diagnosed early. The initial lesion called polyps (benign) can develop into a carcinoma. It is known that several biotic and abiotic factors are involved in the development of this lesion, and highlighted the imbalance or dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. Recently, anaerobic bacteria belonging to the resident microbiota of the oral cavity have been found in large numbers in faecal material from subjects with colon cancer. Asymptomatic bacterial infections and persistent in the colon and/or rectum may induce chronic inflammatory processes resulting in microenvironments pro-carcinogenics. Oral and intestinal species belonging to the genera Fusobacterium, Prevotella, Porphyromonas; Bacteroides, Clostridium, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, among others, are considered as possible responsible for triggering inflammatory processes and carcinogenesis. These bacterial genera exhibit varying resistance to antibiotics currently used in the treatment of infections caused by anaerobic bacteria due to the presence and expression of resistance genes; and its detection is of importance to the empirical treatment in these patients. Thus, in this study a qualitative and quantitative detection the oral and intestinal microbial communities that colonize the intestinal tract of patients with colorectal cancer, as well as the association between microorganisms detected in the analyzed ecosystems will be evaluated. In this process the microbial presence will be evaluated in clinical stool samples, blood, tumor tissue and healthy tissue of patients diagnosed with colon carcinoma and/or rectum. (AU)