The role of intestinal microbiome as a predictor of infections during the treatment of acute leukemias (myeloid and lymphoblastic)

Abstract

Background: Acute leukemias are a major health problem worldwide, as it represents one of the most frequent types of cancers. For this reason many efforts have been done to improve treatment therapies. Nowadays the chemotherapy agents used are extremely mieloablative making these patients highly susceptible to infection, which remains an important cause of mortality. The delineation of risk factors for infection and the development of screening strategies are of cardinal importance in order to reduce the incidence of infection and overall the mortality in patients with acute leukemias undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Objectives: The main aim of the present study is to establish an asso-ciation between changes in the intestinal microbiome diversity compo-sition (before and after treatment) and bacterial infectious complica-tions, in patients undergoing high intensity chemotherapy. Design: an observational, prospective, longitudinal follow-up without a control group will be performed in Hospital Universitari Dr. Josep Trueta between August 2017 and December 2021 Participants: Patients between 18 and 70 years old, newly diagnosed of acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoblastic leukemia Methods: A non-probabilistic consecutive sampling will be used in this study; we will analyse the diversity of the intestinal microbiome through fecal samples before and after high intensity chemotherapy treatment