Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of many cancers. However, not all patients benefit from this therapy and there is a critical need to develop new strategies to enhance response to immunotherapy. One factor that has been shown to impact immunity in general, as well as response to immunotherapy in particular, is the gut microbiome, i.e. the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut. It has previously been shown, by our group and others, that there are distinct gut microbiome profiles between patients who respond to immunotherapy vs that don't. A key determinant of the gut microbiome is our diet as the bugs in our gut eat what we eat. We have previously shown that diet is associa...

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Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of many cancers. However, not all patients benefit from this therapy and there is a critical need to develop new strategies to enhance response to immunotherapy. One factor that has been shown to impact immunity in general, as well as response to immunotherapy in particular, is the gut microbiome, i.e. the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut. It has previously been shown, by our group and others, that there are distinct gut microbiome profiles between patients who respond to immunotherapy vs that don't. A key determinant of the gut microbiome is our diet as the bugs in our gut eat what we eat. We have previously shown that diet is associated with response to immunotherapy and that, in mouse models, diet change can change the microbiome and response to immunotherapy. My current work is aimed at testing dietary interventions in patients starting immunotherapy to test the hypothesis that we can improve their microbiome and their anti-tumor immunity through diet. If successful, this would promise to be an easy and inexpensive way to improve the odds of response to immunotherapy and improve the outcomes of patients.

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