Using the gut microbiome to improve pancreatic cancer care
Join a focus group and help shape a study
The project
This project explores whether the gut microbiome (the community of bacteria living in the gut) affects how well chemotherapy works for people with pancreatic cancer. Research suggests that certain gut bacteria can help or hinder treatment response.
Mr Lewis Hall and a team of surgeons at University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham aim to understand these effects and test safe ways to improve the microbiome, including dietary changes and faecal microbiota transplant (FMT). By doing this, they hope to boost chemotherapy effectiveness, reduce side effects, and improve outcomes for patients.
What are you going to do?
Lewis and the team will recruit people with pancreatic cancer who are about to start neoadjuvant chemotherapy. During treatment, they will collect stool, blood, and routine clinical information to monitor how their gut microbiome changes over time. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive standard chemotherapy alone or the same treatment plus a faecal microbiota transplant (FMT). By comparing these groups, they aim to determine whether improving the gut microbiome can enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy or help reduce its side effects.
Why is this research important?
Pancreatic cancer survival has not changed for over half a century, and many patients struggle to complete chemotherapy because of side effects or poor response. This research aims to bridge the gap between microbiome science and therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.
Should modulation of the gut microbiome prove effective in improving chemotherapy tolerance and efficacy, it would represent a major advance in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This would allow for the integration of nutritional, microbial, and oncological management to deliver personalised therapy.
How to get involved
Focus group discussion: Lewis and the team would like to hold focus groups during the evenings in December (exact dates TBA) . These will be held online.
Steering committee: The team would like 1-2 individuals to join the steering committee and be involved in a more month to month meeting basis.
Patient advisory group (PAG): In addition the team are looking to develop a patient advisory group who would aim to meet approximately 2-3 times per year, online, for sessions lasting no more than 60 minutes. Members will be asked to review study documents such as patient information sheets, consent forms, and participant-facing materials to ensure they are clear and sensitive. They will provide feedback on recruitment strategies, acceptability of FMT (both as patient and potential donor), and proposed outcome measures. The group will also advise on how best to share results with the public and with people affected by pancreatic cancer. Between meetings, members may be asked to comment on short documents or summaries (no more than 2–3 times a year). Overall, involvement will be flexible, supportive, and designed to respect people’s time while ensuring their input meaningfully shapes the project.
All patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer are welcome to join the PAG. No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
Next steps
If you are interested in getting involved in the focus groups, steering committee or patient advisory group or would like more information, please email Lewis Hall (lewis.hall6@nhs.net) quoting the involvement reference ‘RIN opportunity’.
