Figure 2.

The overwhelming imbalance between beneficial and pathogenic bacteria is the main characteristic of chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-associated intestinal microbial dysbiosis. In this context, SCFAs concentration is decreased by a large margin. It also disrupts the intestinal barrier. In case of increased permeability or interrupted mucus layer, intestinal inflammation is more severe in this chaos milieu after chemotherapy or radiotherapy. SCFAs, short chain fatty acids; ↑, increased; ↓, decreased.