# Project 2

> **NIH NIH P20** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $169,236

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
U.S. Blacks have the highest mortality rate of colorectal cancer of any ethnic group in the country. To achieve
colon cancer health equity, it is critical to determine the underlying biological factors associated with poorer colon
cancer outcomes in Blacks, which could lead to tailored prevention and intervention approaches.
The gut microbiota may play an important biologic role in racial disparities for colon cancer outcomes. Increasing
evidence indicates that the gut microbiota influences innate and adaptive immune function in the tumor
microenvironment. The tumor immune microenvironment is critical for the detection and destruction of nascent
tumor cells. Our preliminary data suggest that healthy Blacks have a significantly different gut microbiome
compared to Whites; importantly, we showed that these gut bacteria are further altered in colon cancer patients,
supporting our hypothesis. Our animal experiments further suggest that gut bacteria modulate tumor immune
microenvironment and affect the efficiency of cancer response to therapy. However, no studies have examined
the relationship between the broader human microbiome, tumor immune microenvironment, and outcomes of
colon cancer in the comparative research setting with Blacks and Whites.
Our overarching goal is to achieve colon cancer health equity, by elucidating gut microbial factors associated
with poorer colon cancer outcomes in Blacks. Our specific aims are 1) to identify gut bacteria associated with
racial disparity in colon cancer and its recurrence, using full genome shotgun sequencing microbiome assay in
200 Black and 200 White colon cancer patients (Stage I-III); 2) to determine how the immune system mediates
the microbiome’s effect on colon cancer disparity, using immunophenotyping assay, from 30-parameter flow
cytometry, and neoantigen load, from whole exome sequencing, in tumors of 50 Black and 50 White colon cancer
patients. This first microbiome study of colon cancer disparities will comprehensively investigate the gut
microbiome and its role in shaping the tumor immune microenvironment.
This project will help to achieve colon cancer health equity by generating novel information about the role of the
microbiome in colon tumorigenesis and progression. Knowledge gained from this study may improve our ability
to identify people at high risk of recurrence, particularly in Blacks. The new information may further lead to the
development of tailored approaches to prevention and therapeutics that exploit microbially-driven immune
responses in colon cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10265455
- **Project number:** 5P20CA252728-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Jiyoung Ahn
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $169,236
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-17 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10265455

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10265455, Project 2 (5P20CA252728-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10265455. Licensed CC0.

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