Impacts of breast cancer and chemotherapy on gut microbiome, cognitive functioning, and mood relative to healthy controls

Women diagnosed with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy experience cognitive impairment, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and physical side effects including disruption in the diversity and community composition of the gut microbiome. To date, there is limited research exploring the associations among these specific challenges. The present cross-sectional study explored the associations of self-reported cognitive functioning, depression, and anxiety symptoms, and gut microbiome diversity and community composition in women who were diagnosed with and undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer (BC) compared to cancer-free healthy controls (HC). The BC group displayed higher rates of cognitive dysfunction ( p