Lung tissue microbial profile in lung cancer is distinct from emphysema.

Abstract

The emphysema-only group presented a lower bacterial community evenness defined by a significantly lower Shannon diversity index compared to the lung cancer patients with or without emphysema (<i>P</i> = 0.006). Furthermore, community compositions of lung cancer patients with or without emphysema were characterized by a significantly lower abundance of Proteobacteria (primary the genera <i>Acinetobacter</i> and <i>Acidovorax</i>) and higher prevalence of Firmicutes (<i>Streptococcus</i>) and Bacteroidetes (<i>Prevotella</i>), compared to emphysema-only patients. In conclusion, the lung microbial composition and communities structures of smokers with lung cancer are distinct from the emphysema-only patients. Although preliminary, our findings suggest that lung microbiome changes could be a biomarker of lung cancer that could eventually be used to help screening for the disease.