Human Breast Tissue Microbiota Reveals Unique Microbial Signatures that Correlate with Prognostic Features in Adult Ethiopian Women with Breast Cancer

Simple Summary Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer deaths among adult women in Ethiopia. The death toll associated with breast cancer is high among women of African ancestry. The cause of the disparity in mortality is unclear. Recently, studies conducted in the United States and other high-income countries highlighted the role of microbial dysbiosis in breast cancer initiation, growth and treatment outcome. However, whether differences in abundance and composition of microbiota are associated with clinical and histopathological parameters in Ethiopian women has not been studied. The aim of our study was to conduct microbial profiling on breast tumor and normal adjacent tissues of the same donor. Further, the study aimed to identify the association of the differences in microbial composition and abundance with clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women with breast cancer. This is the first study to report an association between breast microbial dysbiosis and clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women.Abstract Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Ethiopia. Overall, women of African ancestry have the highest death toll due to BC compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The cause of the disparity in mortality is unclear. Recently, studies conducted in the United States and other high-income countries highlighted the role of microbial dysbiosis in BC initiation, tumor growth, and treatment outcome. However, the extent to which inter-individual differences in the makeup of microbiota are associated with clinical and histopathological outcomes in Ethiopian women has not been studied. The goal of our study was to profile the microbiome in breast tumor and normal adjacent to tumor (NAT) tissues of the same donor and to identify associations between microbial composition and abundance and clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women with BC. We identified 14 microbiota genera in breast tumor tissues that were distinct from NAT tissues, of which Sphingobium, Anaerococcus, Corynebacterium, Delftia, and Enhydrobacter were most significantly decreased in breast tumors compared to NAT tissues. Several microbial genera significantly differed by clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women with BC. Specifically, the genus Burkholderia more strongly correlated with aggressive triple negative (TNBC) and basal-like breast tumors. The genera Alkanindiges, Anoxybacillus, Leifsonia, and Exiguobacterium most strongly correlated with HER2-E tumors. Luminal A and luminal B tumors also correlated with Anoxybacillus but not as strongly as HER2-E tumors. A relatively higher abundance of the genus Citrobacter most significantly correlated with advanced-stage breast tumors compared to early-stage tumors. This is the first study to report an association between breast microbial dysbiosis and clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women.

Automated summary

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Ethiopia, especially those of African ancestry. Recent studies have shown the role of microbial dysbiosis in the initiation, growth, and treatment outcome of breast cancer. However, there is a lack of research on the association between microbial composition and clinical factors in Ethiopian women with breast cancer. This study aims to profile the microbiome in breast tumor and adjacent tissues and identify associations between microbial composition and clinicopathological factors in Ethiopian women with breast cancer.