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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2024; 30(35): 3972-3984
Published online Sep 21, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i35.3972
Fusobacterium nucleatum: Unraveling its potential role in gastric carcinogenesis
Vytenis Petkevicius, Konrad Lehr, Juozas Kupcinskas, Alexander Link
Vytenis Petkevicius, Juozas Kupcinskas, Department of Gastroenterology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas 44307, Lithuania
Konrad Lehr, Alexander Link, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke University Hospital, Magdeburg 39120, Germany
Juozas Kupcinskas, Institute for Digestive Research, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas 50161, Lithuania
Co-first authors: Vytenis Petkevicius and Konrad Lehr.
Author contributions: Petkevicius V, Lehr K, Kupcinskas J, Link A conducted the literature review and analysis, and drafting the manuscript; Lehr K and Link A conducted graphic design; Petkevicius V, Lehr K, Kupcinskas J and Link A conducted critical revision, editing and approval of the final version; Link A conducted conception and design of the study, and was guarantor of the study.
Supported by The European Union’s “Horizon Europe Framework Program” Grant Agreement, No. 101095359 (AIDA project under the call "HORIZON-HLTH-2022-STAYHLTH-02).
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Link reports grants from EFRE, grants from German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, personal fees from Janssen, personal fees from Ferring, personal fees from Luvos, during the conduct of the study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alexander Link, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke University Hospital, Leipzigerstr. 44, Magdeburg 39120, Germany. alexander.link@med.ovgu.de
Received: May 13, 2024
Revised: August 9, 2024
Accepted: August 27, 2024
Published online: September 21, 2024
Processing time: 122 Days and 5.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) plays a key role in the development of oral inflammatory diseases and is a member of the oral microbiota. Recently, however, F. nucleatum has been associated with colorectal cancer and several other malignancies, including gastric cancer (GC). In particular, F. nucleatum has been associated with patient outcomes, suggesting its role in clinical practice. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the potential role of F. nucleatum in the development and progression of GC from a basic and translational perspective and highlight its potential therapeutic relevance.