Chemotherapy related characterization of the oral microbial pattern in breast cancer patients. Oral Microbiome Chemotherapy

Chemotherapeutical anti-cancer drugs with or without combination of humanized monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of breast cancer patients belong to today’s routine strategies of personalized cancer therapy. Severe medication related side effects are unfortunately common accompanying phenomena for these patients just to mention oral discomfort, mucositis or even osteonecrosis of the jaw. In this study, we analyze saliva samples of breast cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy at three time points: before start of the treatment (T1), after four to six cycles of chemotherapy (T2) and at 52 weeks after start of the treatment (T3) for long time effects of the therapy. We aim to characterize changes in the oral, bacterial microbiome based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis due to chemotherapeutic treatment, as a potential reason for oral side effects.