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Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota modulates the efficacy and toxicity of cancer therapy, most notably immunotherapy and its immune-related adverse effects. Thus, the interest in modulating the microbiota composition to improve patients’ responsiveness to therapy has been mounting. Our data of a fecal microbiota transfer clinical trial in anti-PD1 refractory melanoma patients has provided clinical proof of concept of the possibility to target the gut microbiota composition in cancer therapy . However, while many early clinical studies have analyzed the association of the microbiota composition with the response to anti-PD-1 in cancer patients, emerging evidence suggests that the association may be context dependent and different types of mono or combination immunotherapies may be differentially regulated by the microbiota, Thus, a more personalized approach depending original gut microbiota composition of the patients and the type of immunotherapy protocol selected may be necessary for optimal clinical results.

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Prof. Trinchieri joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2006 and is currently Senior Investigator and Chief of the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology. He received the distinction of being named an NIH Distinguished Investigator in 2016. Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Trinchieri was the Director of the Schering Plough Laboratory for Immunological Research in Dardilly, France, and an NIH Fogarty Scholar at the Laboratory for Parasitic Diseases, NIAID. His research at the NCI focuses on the interplay between inflammation/innate resistance and adaptive immunity, and the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the regulation of hematopoiesis, innate resistance, and immunity. He discovered interleukin-12 while at the Wistar Institute in 1989 and for many years has been characterizing the molecular mechanisms of interleukin-12 production and action, and the role of this molecule in tumor immunity, infections, and autoimmunity. Recently, Trinchieri focused on the impact of cytokines and inflammation in cancer. In this field, he has demonstrated the importance of intestinal microbiota in influencing the immune responses to cancer and anti-cancer therapy in mouse models as well as in observational and interventional clinical studies. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Science, of the American Academy of Microbiology, and of the Academy of Immune Oncology.