Pilot Study of Vaginal Microbiome Using QIIME 2™ in Women With Gynecologic Cancer Before and After Radiation Therapy

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the vaginal microbiome using QIIME 2 (TM) (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology 2) in women with gynecologic cancer. SAMPLE & SETTING: 19 women with gynecologic cancer before and after radiation therapy at a comprehensive cancer center in Atlanta, Georgia. METHODS & VARIABLES: This pilot study analyzed vaginal microbiome communities using a microbiome analysis pipeline, beginning with 16S rRNA gene sequencing and processing through use of a bioinformatics pipeline to downstream microbial statistical analysis. RESULTS: The findings showed the methods to be robust, and most women with gynecologic cancer showed depletion of Lactobacillus. Compared to those pre-radiation therapy. women post-radiation therapy showed higher abundances of Mobiluncus, Atopobium, and Prevotella but lower abundances of Lactobacillus, Gardnerella, and Peptostreptococcus, which are associated with bacterial vaginosis. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: This study presents the fundamentals of human microbiome data collection and analysis methods to inform nursing science. Assessing the vaginal microbiome provides a potential pathway to develop interventions to ameliorate dysbiosis of the vaginal microbiome.