Personalized Dietary Intervention Based on Mediterranean Diet as a Complementary Strategy to Modify Gut Microbiome, Quality of Life and Outcomes in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma Treated with Immunotherapy: A Study Protocol

Abstract

Not all cancer patients respond to immunotherapy, and the variation in response may be attributed to an individual’s microbiome, which is profoundly influenced by dietary habits. Understanding and manipulating the microbiome through dietary interventions offers a potential avenue for enhancing immunotherapy outcomes in cancer patients and may consequently serve as a complementary therapeutic strategy. Bearing in mind the latter, as well as our previous research on the importance of the gut microbiome as a co-denominator for immunotherapy response, we aimed to construct this study protocol on a personalized dietary intervention based on the Mediterranean diet as a complementary strategy to modify the gut microbiome, quality of life and outcomes in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with immunotherapy. The present protocol hypothesis is that remote intervention with the MD will be achievable and will positively affect all the aforementioned parameters. The potential gains of this study protocol and upcoming research extend to enhancing quality-of-life outcomes and the survival rates of patients with metastatic melanoma since it could also result in the reinforcement of the recommendation of nutritional intervention as a crucial component of cancer treatment.

Keywords

• dietary intervention
• immunotherapy
• Mediterranean diet
• microbiome
• short-chain fatty acids
• study protocol