# Administrative Supplement: Cervical Cancer Recurrence and the Vaginal Microbiome

> **NIH NIH P30** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $195,155

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Worldwide, cervical cancer (CxCa) is the 4th most common cancer in women. In the US, up to 60% of CxCa
survivors will have persistent Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the causative agent of CxCa, and 35% will develop
recurrent CxCa within 2 years of treatment. Microbes could influence outcomes through a wide variety of
mechanisms, and the vaginal microbiome (VM) has been linked with persistent HPV and other infections, but
the exact processes are poorly understood. Here we propose a secondary analysis to evaluate the changes over
time of the VM and HPV strains in association with CxCa recurrence in CxCa survivors who have been followed
up to 2 years after completing radiation therapy. Available stored samples collected from 80 participants will be
used in this study: 40 postmenopausal CxCa patients who, and 40 healthy age- and race-matched controls.
Vaginal swabs for microbiome sequencing, and cervicovaginal swabs for HPV genotyping have been collected
at baseline before the initiation of cancer therapy, and at 3, 6 and 12 months post radiation therapy. We will
obtain vaginal microbiome data via 16S rRNA sequencing as well as shotgun metagenomics in order to
characterize the vaginal microbial communities. HPV typing of all available samples will be performed to identify
the 51 most commonly encountered types. All subjects have been monitored for at least 2 years post-treatment,
which is the mean time at which cervical cancer recurs. Association analysis will be performed to link the
microbial community types with the HPV types and persistence, and cervical cancer recurrence. Understanding
the role that the VM plays in persistent HPV infection and cancer recurrence can guide future interventional
strategies such as probiotics, in order to effectively sustain a healthy vaginal microbiome that can protect against
persistent infections in cancer survivors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10772780
- **Project number:** 3P30CA138292-14S3
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Suresh S Ramalingam
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $195,155
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2009-04-07 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10772780

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10772780, Administrative Supplement: Cervical Cancer Recurrence and the Vaginal Microbiome (3P30CA138292-14S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10772780. Licensed CC0.

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