SynthesisBMC cancer2026
Gut microbial signatures and immunotherapy outcomes in NSCLC and melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Host-microbiome interactions in breast cancer progression and treatment response.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe composition of the gut microbiome has been linked to clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), but its prognostic association with outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma remains incompletely defined. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesise the evidence on the association between baseline gut microbial signatures and ICI outcomes in these malignancies.
methodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus through April 2025 for studies correlating baseline gut microbiota with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), or immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with NSCLC or melanoma receiving ICIs. We pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) using random-effects models and assessed evidence quality with the GRADE framework.
resultsWe included 26 studies comprising 1,542 patients. High gut microbial alpha diversity was significantly associated with improved OS (pooled HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.41–0.66) and PFS (pooled HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.47–0.71). The presence of *Akkermansia* was associated with a higher ORR (pooled OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.38–3.35). Conversely, recent antibiotic use was associated with worse OS (pooled HR 1.72, 95% CI 1.34–2.21). In patients receiving anti-CTLA-4 therapy, a high abundance of *Bacteroidetes* was associated with a lower risk of severe colitis (pooled OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.18–0.64). The overall certainty of evidence was rated as moderate for most outcomes.
conclusionBaseline gut microbiome features, particularly high diversity and the presence of specific commensal taxa, are moderately associated with superior clinical outcomes to ICIs in NSCLC and melanoma. Our findings suggest that the gut microbiome could serve as a useful prognostic biomarker and may sooner or later be modulated to increase ICI efficacy.
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