Characterization of Microbiota in Cancerous Lung and the Contralateral Non-Cancerous Lung Within Lung Cancer Patients

The functional role of lung microbiota has attracted an accumulating attention recently, but the profile and functional role of the lung microbiota in patients with lung cancer remained largely unknown.

To evaluate the association of the microbiota with lung cancer, we performed comparative analysis of the lung microbiota using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing approach in the paired bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples (paired samples from cancerous lung and the contralateral non-cancerous lung) from 50 cancer patients with unilateral lobar masses.

We found that the relative abundance of phylum Tenericutes, its class Mollicutes, its order Entomoplasmatales, its family Spiroplasmataceae, and its genus Spiroplasma was significantly increased in cancerous lung, but the relative abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, its class Bacteroidia, and its order Bacteroidales was significantly decreased in cancerous lung. In addition, the relative abundance of family Leuconostocaceae and its genus Weissella was significantly increased in cancerous lung.

Our findings provide insights into a change of lung microbiota community associated with the development of lung cancer.