Healthy gut transplant to ease chemo-related thinking and mood problems
Fecal microbial transplantation for chemotherapy behavioral side effects
This work will try using healthy gut bacteria transferred from donors to help people with cancer who have thinking, mood, or fatigue problems during chemotherapy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11260189 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You should know the team first tests the idea in mice to see whether healthy stool can prevent the thinking, mood, and fatigue problems that sometimes follow chemotherapy. They will then run a small pilot trial at Ohio State enrolling breast cancer patients on chemotherapy to check safety and whether the approach is feasible. Participants may receive a donor stool transplant, a transplant using their own stool, or a saline control, given before or during chemotherapy, and researchers will follow thinking, mood, fatigue, inflammation, and gut bacteria over time. Results from the pilot will guide whether larger patient trials are launched.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: The pilot trial is aimed at breast cancer patients currently receiving chemotherapy who are willing to travel to the study site and provide clinical and stool samples.
Not a fit: People not receiving chemotherapy, those without chemo-related behavioral symptoms, or patients with medical contraindications to fecal transplants (for example severe immunosuppression or active infections) may not benefit or be eligible.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could reduce chemo-related cognitive problems, mood changes, and fatigue and improve quality of life and treatment tolerance.
How similar studies have performed: Preclinical mouse work from this group suggests gut microbes can drive chemo-related behavioral changes, and while FMT is proven for C. difficile, using FMT for chemotherapy-related thinking and mood problems is novel and unproven in patients.
Where this research is happening
Columbus, UNITED STATES
- Ohio State University — Columbus, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Pyter, Leah M — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Pyter, Leah M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.