Probiotics help relieve chemo-induced diarrhoea

The use of probiotics leads to a significant reduction in chemotherapy-related diarrhoea, suggesting its potential as supportive care agent in oncology, according to a study.

“The gut microbiome is crucial in influencing cancer progression and response to treatment,” said the authors, who evaluated the efficacy and safety of probiotics and synbiotics in cancer treatment, focusing on the incidence of diarrhoea, significant complications, surgical site infections, length of hospital stay, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

A comprehensive literature search was performed in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL up to June 2024 following PRISMA guidelines. The authors assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool and performed a meta-analysis using a random-effects model.

Fifteen studies, involving a total of 2,197 participants, met the eligibility criteria. The meta-analysis revealed the association of probiotic use with a significant decrease in the incidence of diarrhoea (odds ratio [OR], 0.39, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.15–1.00; p=0.049), with moderate heterogeneity (I²=64 percent).

However, there were no significant differences noted in major complications (OR, 0.50, 95 percent CI, 0.05–4.92; p=0.4053; I²=73 percent), surgical site infections (OR, 0.36, 95 percent CI, 0.12–1.09; p=0.058; I²=0 percent), length of hospital stay (standardized mean difference, –0.30, 95 percent CI, –1.00 to 0.41; p=0.2726; I²=62 percent), PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.61, 95 percent CI, 0.03–10.82; p=0.2715; I²=0 percent), or OS (HR, 0.52, 95 percent CI, 0.00–58.82; p=0.3298; I²=0 percent).