Abstract

Purpose
Accumulating evidence has clarified that gut dysbiosis is involved in lung cancer development and progression. Although the relationship between tumors and gut microbiota has been extensively studied using clinical samples, no studies have examined the association between mutant EGFR-induced lung carcinogenesis and dysbiosis in gut microbiota. Therefore, we investigated the gut microbiota profiles in stool samples from human lung-specific conditional EGFR-mutant transgenic mice during lung tumor carcinogenesis.
Materials and Methods
Stool samples were collected before tamoxifen treatment (V1) and at each time point following mutant EGFR expression in lung tissue (V2) and lung tumor appearance (V3). Fecal 16S rRNA taxonomy was analyzed to assess microbial diversity, composition, and dynamic changes at each time point.
Results
We found that microbiota richness and diversity were significantly elevated when tumors developed and grew in the lung. Phylogenetic analysis of the microbial community revealed that Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Rhodospirillaceae, Odoribacteraceae, and Desulfovibrionaceae showed a significant increase at the V3 stage compared to the V1 stage at the family level. In contrast, Lactobacillaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Muribaculaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, and Rikenellaceae significantly decreased at the V3 stage compared to the V1 stage. Furthermore, Lactobacillus species, also known as SCFA-producing bacteria, were relatively abundant at the V1 stage but were depleted with the occurrence of lung tumors at the V3 stage.
Conclusion
Changes in gut microbiota, such as Lactobacillus species, may be a predictive factor for the emergence and progression of tumors in an animal model of lung adenocarcinoma induced by mutant EGFR.

• Keywords: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Carcinogenesis, Mutant EGFR, Transgenic mice, Gut microbiota, Lactobacillus species, Non-small cell lung cancer