Evidence mapPaperPMID 40272913Full record

ArticleJCI insight2025

The gut microbiome enhances breast cancer immunotherapy following bariatric surgery.

Margaret S Bohm, Sydney C Joseph, Laura M Sipe, Minjeong Kim, Cameron T Leathem, Tahliyah S Mims, Nathaniel B Willis, Ubaid A Tanveer, Joel H Elasy, Emily W Grey and 13 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCI insight, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Emerging technologies and current challenges in intratumoral microbiota research.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Margaret S BohmDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Sydney C JosephDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Laura M SipeDepartment of Biology, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA.
Minjeong KimDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Cameron T LeathemDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Tahliyah S MimsDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Nathaniel B WillisDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Ubaid A TanveerDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Joel H ElasyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Emily W GreyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Madeline E PyeDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Zeid T MustafaDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Barbara Anne HarperDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Logan G McGrathDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Deidre DariaFlow and Cell Sorting Core, Office for Vice Chancellor of Research, UTHSC, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Brenda Landvoigt SchmittCollege of Health Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Jelissa A MyersCollege of Health Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Patricia Pantoja NewmanCollege of Health Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Brandt D PenceCollege of Health Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Marie Van der MerweCollege of Health Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Matthew J DavisDepartment of Surgery, and.
Joseph F PierreDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Liza MakowskiDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Funding

cGMP Manufacture, Fill-Finish, Release, Analytical and Stability Testing and Stability Program of a Nanoparticle Based HIV Envelope Vaccine75N93022D00005 · INTERNATIONAL AIDS VACCINE INITIATIVE · 2025 to 2025
$3.4M
TRAINING IN NUTRITIONT32DK007665 · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 1993 to 2025
$1.9M
Determining the contribution of microbial-derived metabolites to protective immunity in obesity-driven cancer risk.U01CA272541 · UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCI CTR · 2025 to 2025
$1.0M
Role of microbially-derived metabolites in anti-tumor immunity in breast cancerR01CA253329 · UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCI CTR · 2025 to 2025
$488k
Obesity-driven Metabolic and Molecular Biomarkers of Metformin Response in Endometrial CancerR37CA226969 · NCI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Victoria Lin Bae-Jump · 2022 to 2022
$356k
Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training GrantR25CA203650 · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2025 to 2025
$296k
MULTI-ETHNIC STUDY OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS (MESA), FIELD CENTER (FC): TASK AREA A - CORE OPERATIONS75N92020D00005 · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2025 to 2025
$282k
NCI NIH HHS F32 CA250192NCI NIH HHS R01 CA253329NCI NIH HHS R25 CA203650NCI NIH HHS R37 CA226969NCI NIH HHS U01 CA272541NHLBI NIH HHS 75N92020D00005NIAID NIH HHS 75N93022D00005NIAID NIH HHS 75N93023D00005NIDA NIH HHS 75N95020D00005NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK007665NIH HHS S10 OD032329ORFDO NIH HHS 75N99020D00005
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bariatric surgery is associated with improved breast cancer (BC) outcomes, including greater immunotherapy effectiveness in a preclinical BC model. A potential mechanism of bariatric surgery-associated protection is the gut microbiota. Here, we demonstrate the dependency of improved immunotherapy response on the post-bariatric surgery gut microbiome via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Response to αPD-1 immunotherapy was significantly improved following FMT from formerly obese bariatric surgery-treated mice. When stool from post-bariatric surgery patients was transplanted into recipient mice and compared to the patients' presurgery transplants, postsurgery microbes significantly reduced tumor burden and doubled immunotherapy effectiveness. Microbes impact tumor burden through microbially derived metabolites, including branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Circulating BCAAs correlated significantly with natural killer T (NKT) cell content in the tumor microenvironment in donor mice after bariatric surgery and FMT recipients of donor cecal content after bariatric surgery compared with obese controls. BCAA supplementation replicated improved αPD-1 effectiveness in 2 BC models, supporting the role of BCAAs in increased immunotherapy effectiveness after bariatric surgery. Ex vivo exposure increased primary NKT cell expression of antitumor cytokines, demonstrating direct activation of NKT cells by BCAAs. Together, the findings suggest that reinvigorating antitumor immunity may depend on bariatric surgery-associated microbially derived metabolites, namely BCAAs.

Indexed as

Bariatric SurgeryBreast NeoplasmsGastrointestinal MicrobiomeImmunotherapyAmino Acids, Branched-ChainAnimalsFecal Microbiota TransplantationFemaleHumansMiceMice, Inbred C57BLNatural Killer T-CellsObesityTumor MicroenvironmentAmino Acids, Branched-ChainBreast cancerCancer immunotherapyImmunologyMicrobiologyObesityOncology

Identifiers

PMID40272913
PMCPMC12220976

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.