Abstract 1282: Gavage with Candida albicans leads to fungal colonization of colorectal tumors and decreased response to radiotherapy
Authors: Grencewicz Dennis J. , Loncar Alexander , Hoyd Rebecca , Pallerla Aaditya , Williams Nyelia , Benej Martin , Kreamer McKenzie , Mehra Yogita , Jahanbakhshi Shiva , Anderson Matthew , Denko Nicholas , Spakowicz Daniel 
Published: March 2024

The host microbiome in the gut and tumors have been shown to affect tumor growth and therapeutic response in cancer. Furthermore, the presence of specific fungal taxa are associated with tumor hypoxia, tumor progression, therapeutic response, and clinical outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC). Preliminary data from our group found that the presence of Candida species increased tumor hypoxia and decreased overall survival in CRC. However, whether intratumoral Candida drive, support, or simply inhabit tumors with poor prognoses remains unclear. Here, we investigate a casual role for Candida albicans in tumor progression and therapy response using a syngeneic mouse model of microsatellite-instability high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer.

We subcutaneously implanted MC38 colorectal cancer cells into C57BL/6 mice and then orally gavaged these mice with C. albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or PBS. The site of tumor formation was locally irradiated once (7.5 Gy), and growth of the tumor was measured over time. Differences in tumor volume were assessed by longitudinal mixed-effect models. Tumor sections were stained for fungi using calcofluor white (CFW) and underwent bulk RNA sequencing to detect differential gene expression, which were interpreted using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).

Mice gavaged with C. albicans showed decreased response to radiation compared to mice gavaged with either S. cerevisiae (p&lt;0.05) or PBS (p&lt;0.001). Additionally, hyphae were observed in murine tumors gavaged with C. albicans, suggesting translocation of gavaged C. albicans from the gut to tumors. Further, tumors from mice gavaged with C. albicans displayed unique gene expression profiles, including decreased interferon alpha and IL-6 and STAT3 signaling, decreased oxidative phosphorylation, and decreased apoptosis-related gene expression.

Here, we show that C. albicans may confer resistance to radiation therapy and affects immune and cancer cell activity in the MC38 (MSI-H) syngeneic in vivo model of colorectal cancer. Further, we show that hyphal fungi can be visualized in heterotopic murine tumors from our C. albicans gavage condition. These data establish that fungi can translocate from the gut to distal tumor sites, and that upon translocation, changes in gene expression and therapy response are observed. Future directions will explore the mechanism by which these effects occur and whether these findings can be leveraged to improve radiotherapy outcomes.

Citation Format: Dennis J. Grencewicz, Alexander Loncar, Rebecca Hoyd, Aaditya Pallerla, Nyelia Williams, Martin Benej, McKenzie Kreamer, Yogita Mehra, Shiva Jahanbakhshi, Matthew Anderson, Nicholas Denko, Daniel Spakowicz. Gavage with Candida albicans leads to fungal colonization of colorectal tumors and decreased response to radiotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1282.