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CPS-3 Participants Send Saliva & Stool Samples for the Sake of Science
In the summer of 2020, a small group of participants registered for the first phase of the CPS-3 portal. That fall, we launched a new substudy on the gut microbiome, and over 550 participants completed an online questionnaire and contributed a stool sample.
The gut microbiome consists of microorganisms (such as the bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that live inside our digestive tract, and the oral microbiome consists of the microorganisms that live inside our mouths. Every person’s microbiome is uniquely shaped by their diet, lifestyle, genetics, and environmental factors.
This pilot was so successful we continued the study in the fall of 2021 and collected another 3,000 stool samples from other CPS-3 portal participants. And we kept going!
We expanded the substudy to also focus on the oral microbiome. In 2022 and 2023, we successfully completed our collection of over 10,000 paired stool and saliva samples.
Researchers use the collected stool and saliva samples for these Microbiome Substudies to investigate the role of the gut and oral microbiomes in overall health and risk of developing cancer.
The stool samples provide a "snapshot" of the participant's unique gut microbiome—the collection of microorganisms (like bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that live inside everyone's digestive system. The saliva samples will similarly provide a “snapshot” of the oral microbiome—the microbes that live inside everyone's mouths.
Our gut and oral microbiomes are shaped by diet, lifestyle, genetics, and environmental factors. These microbiomes play an important role in the absorption of nutrients and minerals, our immune system, and in chronic health conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, heart disease, and colorectal cancer.
CPS-3 Gut Microbiome Substudy
Thank You, CPS-3 Participants
If you were one of the over 13,000 CPS-3 participants who provided a stool or saliva sample, thank you. Your samples, as well as the accompanying survey data, will allow ACS researchers to investigate the role of the gut and oral microbiomes in overall health and in risk factors for cancer such as obesity.