Published online Apr 7, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i13.105248
Revised: February 27, 2025
Accepted: March 21, 2025
Published online: April 7, 2025
Processing time: 76 Days and 22.1 Hours
With advances in sequencing techniques, microbiota dysbiosis and pathogenic microbes that accelerate colorectal cancer progression have been identified and widely reported. However, few studies have focused on the microbiota taxa of rectal mucus in rectal cancer (RC) patients. Here, we analyzed the composition and characteristics of the rectal mucosa microbiota of RC patients from Wenzhou city, China, and compared the results with those of healthy controls.
To explore the changes in the characteristics of the rectal mucosal flora associated with RC, and identify biomarkers of microbe taxa for RC.
Rectal mucosa samples from a Chinese cohort of 72 recently diagnosed RC patients and 71 healthy controls were obtained. A validation cohort, which in
The 16S ribosomal DNA results demonstrated that RC patients presented increased bacterial community richness and alpha diversity as well as an altered rectal mucosal microbiota, with depletion of Proteobacteria and Thermi and enrichment of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria in cancerous mucosal tissues (CM) and enrichment of Firmicutes and Cyanobacteria in adjacent noncancerous mucosal tissues (AM). The culture results showed that the mean loads of Escherichia coli, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus, and Lactobacillus were significantly reduced in RC patients. The ratios of Prevotella to Ruminococcus [areas under the receiver operating curve: 0.795 in AM vs normal control mucosa (NM), 0.77 in CM vs NM] and of Prevotella stercorea to Propionibacterium acnes (areas under the receiver operating curve: 0.808 in AM vs NM, 0.843 in CM vs NM) exhibited excellent abilities to differentiate between healthy controls and RC patients.
RC patients have an altered rectal mucosal microbiota, and the ratio of Prevotella to Ruminococcus or the ratio of Prevotella stercorea to Propionibacterium acnes may serve as a marker for RC diagnosis.
Core Tip: In this study, we focused on the rectal mucosal microbiota, which is associated with the occurrence and deve