Effect of multi-strain probiotics supplementation on chemotherapy-related side effects among patients with breast cancer: A pilot trial

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effect of a 7-strain probiotics formulation on chemotherapy-related side effects, complete blood counts, blood biochemistry, and Karnofsky performance scores. All patients diagnosed with breast cancer who received chemotherapy at a hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia, were considered eligible to join the study. Before probiotic supplementation, the baseline values of the tested parameters were obtained and later compared with the values after 21–30 days of probiotic supplementation. Multi-strain probiotics supplementation could alleviate the fatigue and nausea symptoms in our patients. Significant improvements were observed after probiotic supplementation compared to before supplementation in the Karnofsky performance scores (median: 100 versus 90, respectively; p < 0.001) and blood urea nitrogen (11.6 mg/dL versus 10.05 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.008). Non-significant differences were found for the complete blood counts, alanine aminotransferase, and serum creatinine. Our findings provide preliminary evidence about the potential role of multi-strain probiotics supplementation to alleviate chemotherapy-related side effects.