Differences in the microbial profiles of early stage endometrial cancers between Black and White women

Study information

Needs review

study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

35277280

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1016/j.ygyno.2022.02.021

URI

Authors

Hawkins GM, Burkett WC, McCoy AN, Nichols HB, Olshan AF, Broaddus R, Merker JD, Weissman B, Brewster WR, Roach J, Keku TO, Bae-Jump V

Journal

Gynecologic oncology

Year

2022

Keywords:

Endometrial cancer, Race disparities, Uterine microbiome

OBJECTIVE: Black women suffer a higher mortality from endometrial cancer (EC) than White women. Potential biological causes for this disparity include a higher prevalence of obesity and more lethal histologic/molecular subtypes. We hypothesize that another biological factor driving this racial disparity could be the EC microbiome. METHODS: Banked tumor specimens of postmenopausal, Black and White women undergoing hysterectomy for early stage endometrioid EC were identified. The microbiota of the tumors were characterized by bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing. The microbial component of endometrioid ECs in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were assessed for comparison. RESULTS: 95 early stage ECs were evaluated: 23 Black (24%) and 72 White (76%). Microbial diversity was increased (p < 0.001), and Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria and OD1 phyla abundance was higher in tumors from Black versus White women (p < 0.001). Genus level abundance of Dietzia and Geobacillus were found to be lower in tumors of obese Black versus obese White women (p < 0.001). Analysis of early stage ECs in TCGA found that microbial diversity was higher in ECs from Black versus White women (p < 0.05). When comparing ECs from obese Black versus obese White women, 5 bacteria distributions were distinct, with higher abundance of Lactobacillus acidophilus in ECs from Black women being the most striking difference. Similarly in TCGA, Dietzia and Geobacillus were more common in ECs from White women compared to Black. CONCLUSION: Increased microbial diversity and the distinct microbial profiles between ECs of obese Black versus obese White women suggests that intra-tumoral bacteria may contribute to EC disparities and pathogenesis.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2024/11/12

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Subjects

Location of subjects: United States of America

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Connective tissue Bindegewebe,Portion of connective tissue,Textus connectivus,Connective tissue,connective tissue

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Endometrial cancer cancer of endometrium,endometrial Ca,endometrial cancer,endometrial neoplasm,endometrium cancer,malignant endometrial neoplasm,malignant endometrium neoplasm,malignant neoplasm of endometrium,neoplasm of endometrium,primary malignant neoplasm of endometrium,tumor of endometrium,Endometrial cancer

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Benign uterus

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Endometrioid endometrial cancers

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Endometrioid endometrial cancers refers to the early stage endometrial tumors which was majorly found in obese Black women.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 16

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 95

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 3 months

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V1-V3

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Ion Torrent

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: log transformation

Statistical test: Metastats

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: Yes

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: increased

Signature 1

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Source: Fig. 1

Description: Differentially abundant taxa between Benign (non-cancerous) and Endometrial cancer(malignant).

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Endometrioid endometrial cancers

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Flavobacterium
Hyphomicrobium

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 2

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Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Non-Obese White Women

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Obese White Women

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Obese White Women refers to the early stage endometrial tumors in white women with obesity.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 26

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 38

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: increased

Signature 1

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Source: Fig. 2

Description: Differentially abundant taxa between Non-obese white women and obese white women.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Obese White Women

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Candidatus Saccharibacteria

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Signature 2

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Source: Fig. 2

Description: Differentially abundant taxa between Non-obese white women and obese white women.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Obese White Women

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacillota

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 3

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Curated date: 2024/11/12

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Obese White Women

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Obese Black Women

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Obese Black Women refers to the early stage endometrial tumors in black women with obesity.