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Cancer / Immunotherapy / Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor · Journal article
Gut Microbes · July 15, 2026
Encouraging direction, but not yet definitive.
Dietary inulin and bacterial-derived butyrate reduced tumor growth and enhanced anti-PD-1 efficacy in mouse models through CD8⁺ T cell activation and microbiome modulation. In a cohort of 117 NSCLC patients receiving immunotherapy, dietary fiber intake correlated with beneficial microbiome changes, suggesting a translational avenue for improving checkpoint inhibitor response.
Preclinical mouse tumor models with observational human cohort. Mouse tumor models and 117 non-small cell lung cancer patients amenable to immunotherapy. Intervention: Dietary supplementation with inulin or butyrate, with or without αPD-1 therapy. n = 117.
Dietary inulin supplementation reduced tumor growth and enhanced αPD-1 efficacy in mice Butyrate alone recapitulated the anti-tumor effect of inulin and had an additive effect when combined with αPD-1 therapy in a CD8⁺ T cell-dependent manner In 117 non-small cell lung cancer patients amenable to immunotherapy, dietary fiber intake correlated with enrichment of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii
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These findings suggest dietary fiber supplementation or butyrate may serve as an adjunct to improve checkpoint inhibitor efficacy, though prospective human intervention trials are needed. Clinicians may consider assessing dietary fiber intake in patients starting immunotherapy.
Preclinical murine data with clinical correlative evidence in 117 NSCLC patients suggests dietary fiber and butyrate may enhance checkpoint inhibitor efficacy, but human intervention data are absent.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
These findings suggest dietary fiber supplementation or butyrate may serve as an adjunct to improve checkpoint inhibitor efficacy, though prospective human intervention trials are needed. Clinicians may consider assessing dietary fiber intake in patients starting immunotherapy.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
The gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as a key modulator of cancer immunotherapy efficacy. Given that diet is one of the most important determinants of the gut microbiome composition and function, nutritional strategies have emerged as promising tools to modulate anti-tumor immune responses. Here, we demonstrate that dietary supplementation with inulin reduces tumor growth and enhances αPD-1 efficacy in mice. These effects were associated with increased frequencies of intra-tumoral CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells, particularly CCR9⁺CXCR3⁺ subsets, and enrichment of beneficial taxa such as Akkermansia and Lachnospiraceae, alongside elevated short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) levels. Among the SCFA, butyrate alone recapitulated the anti-tumor effect of inulin and had an additive effect when combined with αPD-1 therapy in a CD8⁺ T cell-dependent manner. Butyrate exerted its anti-tumor effects by transcriptional changes in CD8⁺ T cells involving activation of proliferation, trafficking, and metabolic pathways. In a cohort of 117 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients amenable to immunotherapy, the median dietary fiber intake was lower than previously published studies but correlated with enrichment of Faecalibacterium praunitzii and metabolic pathways related to sucrose degradation and tryptophan biosynthesis. Collectively, our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting diet-microbiome-immune system interactions to improve cancer immunotherapy outcomes.
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