Overview
This monocentric study aims at evaluating the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation from newly diagnosed cachectic and non-cachectic pancreatic cancer patients, and healthy volunteers on several cachexia-related parameters of germ-free mice.
Description
Aim: Evaluating the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from 6 newly diagnosed cachectic and 6 non-cachectic pancreatic cancer patients, and 12 healthy age-and sex-matched volunteers on several cachexia-related parameters of 96 germ-free mice (4 per donor) over a 30-day period. The fecal material of all 12 pancreatic cancer patients will be collected at diagnosis before any cancer treatment onset.
Hypothesis: FMT of cachectic patients with pancreas cancer, naïve of any anti-cancer treatment and artificial nutrition, into germ-free mice impairs weight gain, in contrast to FMT of non-cachectic patients and healthy controls.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
Patients with pancreatic cancer (n=12)
- ≥18 years and
- Newly diagnosed of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (local or metastatic) and
- Tube feeding or parenteral nutrition ≤ 14 days
Cachectic pancreatic cancer patients (n=6)
- Cachexia according to the Fearon criteria 1: involuntary weight loss >5% over the last 6 months, or any level of weight loss >2% and a BMI <20 kg/m2 or sarcopenia. Sarcopenia will be diagnosed by BIA (fat-free mass index is <17 kg/m2 in men and <15 kg/m2 in women) 81, and not by CT, as it is faster and can be performed at the bedside of the patient. Non-cachectic pancreatic cancer patients (n=6)
- Normal nutritional state: weight stability (± 2% of habitual weight) over the last 6 months, no anorexia before the diagnosis (appetite rating on a visual analogue scale of 100mm), no known impaired glucose tolerance.
Healthy matched subjects (n=12)
- ≥18 years and
- BMI between 18.5 and 30 kg/m2 and
- Absence of chronic or acute disease and
- Matching for gender and age (± 5 years) with an included pancreatic cancer patient
Exclusion Criteria:
- < 18 years or
- Inability to give consent or
- Insufficient knowledge of project language (French, German) or
- Pancreatic adenocarcinoma already treated by chemo- or radiotherapy, or major surgery as duodenopancreatectomy or biliary diversion
- Known rheumatologic or immunologic diseases
- Therapeutic antibiotics or immunosuppressive drugs (for instance glucocorticoids, cytostatics, antibodies) in the 30 days preceding the inclusion