Microbiota and Pancreatic Cancer Cachexia

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with pancreatic cancer (n=12)
• ≥18 years and
• Newly diagnosed of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (local or metastatic) and
• Tube feeding or parenteral nutrition ≤ 14 days
• Cachectic pancreatic cancer patients (n=6)
• Cachexia according to the Fearon criteria 1: involuntary weight loss \>5% over the last 6 months, or any level of weight loss \>2% and a BMI \<20 kg/m2 or sarcopenia. Sarcopenia will be diagnosed by BIA (fat-free mass index is \<17 kg/m2 in men and \<15 kg/m2 in women) 81, and not by CT, as it is faster and can be performed at the bedside of the patient. Non-cachectic pancreatic cancer patients (n=6)
• Normal nutritional state: weight stability (± 2% of habitual weight) over the last 6 months, no anorexia before the diagnosis (appetite rating on a visual analogue scale of 100mm), no known impaired glucose tolerance.
• Healthy matched subjects (n=12)
• ≥18 years and
• BMI between 18.5 and 30 kg/m2 and
• Absence of chronic or acute disease and
• Matching for gender and age (± 5 years) with an included pancreatic cancer patient

Exclusion criteria

• \< 18 years or
• Inability to give consent or
• Insufficient knowledge of project language (French, German) or
• Pancreatic adenocarcinoma already treated by chemo- or radiotherapy, or major surgery as duodenopancreatectomy or biliary diversion
• Known rheumatologic or immunologic diseases
• Therapeutic antibiotics or immunosuppressive drugs (for instance glucocorticoids, cytostatics, antibodies) in the 30 days preceding the inclusion