Gut resistome of NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy

The newest method of treatment for patients with NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) is immunotherapy directed at the immune checkpoints PD-1 (Programmed Cell Death 1), and PD-L1 (Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1). The study aimed to assess the gut resistome composition of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the context of clinical features and potentially new prediction factors for assessing immunotherapy efficacy. The stool samples were collected from 30 advanced NSCLC patients 19 (57%) men and 11 (33%) women treated with first- or second-line immunotherapy (nivolumab, pembrolizumab or atezolizumab). Targeted metagenomics with a panel of custom-designed probes using the (6094 known antimicrobial resistance genes from the NCBI database) was used to evaluate the composition of the resistome of NSCLC patients.