# Fecal Microbiota Transplant and PD-1 blockade in Melanoma

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $505,070

## Abstract

Abstract
There is ample evidence that melanoma patients (MPs) develop immune responses directed against tumor-
associated antigens. However, high frequencies of tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) often
fail to induce tumor rejection. Among the numerous mechanisms of tumor-induced immunosuppression that
contribute to the resistance of tumors to CTL responses, it is now well established that inhibitory receptors like
PD1 play a critical role in dampening T cell responses to tumors. As a result, therapy with blocking anti-PD1
monoclonal antibodies has become one of the most potent therapies of melanoma, providing prolonged clinical
benefits to 30-40% advanced MPs. There is strong evidence that pre-existing CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T cells
correlate with clinical antitumor response to PD1 blockade. However, not all T cell-inflamed tumors respond to
PD1 blockade and not all melanomas are inflamed. Hence, the mechanisms supporting response or resistance
to PD1 blockade remain to be precisely determined. Two studies have shown the role of the gut microbiome in
regulating clinical responses to CTLA4 and PD1 blockade in murine melanoma model. In addition, two studies
in NSCLCs and renal cancers (RC), and melanoma patients (MPs), respectively, have shown that the
presence of certain commensals correlated with better clinical outcome upon PD1 blockade. Fecal microbiota
transplant (FMT) from PD1 responders (PD1Rs) in melanoma-bearing GF mice reduced significantly tumor
growth as compared to FMT from PD1 non-responders (PD1NRs). We have observed the increased
abundance of certain bacterial commensals in stools of PD1Rs as compared to PD1NRs, albeit significantly
different from the ones recently published. The striking differences between our findings and the recent
published study are not totally surprising when one considers the greater complexity and inter-individual
variability of the human gut microbiota upon many host-dependent variables. It is therefore critically important
to expand these studies in a larger number of MPs using state-of-the-art omic approach (metagenomics) and
Systems Biology to evaluate the direct causality between commensal bacteria and clinical outcome. Here, we
propose to test whether the gut microbiome modulates immune and clinical responses to PD1 blockade in the
context a novel clinical trial with FMT obtained from PD1Rs combined with PD1 blockade in PD1NRs. This
project will test the novel hypotheses that: 1) PD1Rs exhibit distinct gut microbiota profiles in terms of diversity,
abundance and dynamics over time compared with PD1NRs; 2) the administration of single PD1R-derived
FMT to a PD1NRs together with PD1 blockade promotes clinical antitumor response; and 3) the occurrence of
clinical responses in MPs treated with FMT and PD1 blockade correlates with T cell responses to melanoma.
This proposal will take advantage of the well-established and cross-disciplinary expertise of the investigators in
melanoma, huma...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10441408
- **Project number:** 5R01CA222203-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** HASSANE M ZAROUR
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $505,070
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10441408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10441408, Fecal Microbiota Transplant and PD-1 blockade in Melanoma (5R01CA222203-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10441408. Licensed CC0.

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