Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2018; 24(22): 2327-2347
Published online Jun 14, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i22.2327
Microbial markers in colorectal cancer detection and/or prognosis
Romain Villéger, Amélie Lopès, Julie Veziant, Johan Gagnière, Nicolas Barnich, Elisabeth Billard, Delphine Boucher, Mathilde Bonnet
Romain Villéger, Amélie Lopès, Julie Veziant, Johan Gagnière, Nicolas Barnich, Elisabeth Billard, Delphine Boucher, Mathilde Bonnet, Université Clermont Auvergne, Inserm U1071, USC-INRA 2018, M2iSH, CRNH Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France
Amélie Lopès, Research Biologics, Sanofi R&D, Vitry-Sur-Seine 94400, France
Julie Veziant, Johan Gagnière, Chirurgie digestive, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France
Nicolas Barnich, Elisabeth Billard, Delphine Boucher, Mathilde Bonnet, Université Clermont Auvergne, Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France
Author contributions: Villéger R, Lopès A, Veziant J, Gagnière J, Billard E and Boucher D organized and wrote the manuscript; Barnich N critically revised the manuscript; Bonnet M organized, wrote and supervised the writing of the manuscript.
Supported by Inserm and Université Clermont Auvergne (UMR 1071), INRA (USC-2018); and grants from “Conseil regional Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes”and FDER/CPER.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mathilde Bonnet, PhD, Assistant Professor, M2iSH “Microbes, Intestin, Inflammation et Susceptibilité de l’Hôte” UMR 1071 Inserm/Université d’Auvergne USC INRA 2018, Centre Biomédical de Recherche et Valorisation, 28 Place Henri Dunant, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France. mathilde.bonnet@uca.fr
Telephone: +33-4-7318381 Fax: +33-4-73178371
Received: April 6, 2018
Peer-review started: April 7, 2018
First decision: April 27, 2018
Revised: May 3, 2018
Accepted: May 18, 2018
Article in press: May 18, 2018
Published online: June 14, 2018
Processing time: 65 Days and 9.5 Hours
Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer worldwide. CRC is still associated with a poor prognosis among patients with advanced disease. On the contrary, due to its slow progression from detectable precancerous lesions, the prognosis for patients with early stages of CRC is encouraging. While most robust methods are invasive and costly, actual patient-friendly screening methods for CRC suffer of lack of sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the development of sensitive, non-invasive and cost-effective methods for CRC detection and prognosis are necessary for increasing the chances of a cure. Beyond its beneficial functions for the host, increasing evidence suggests that the intestinal microbiota is a key factor associated with carcinogenesis. Many clinical studies have reported a disruption in the gut microbiota balance and an alteration in the faecal metabolome of CRC patients, suggesting the potential use of a microbial-based test as a non-invasive diagnostic and/or prognostic tool for CRC screening. This review aims to discuss the microbial signatures associated with CRC known to date, including dysbiosis and faecal metabolome alterations, and the potential use of microbial variation markers for non-invasive early diagnosis and/or prognostic assessment of CRC and advanced adenomas. We will finally discuss the possible use of these markers as predicators for treatment response and their limitations.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Microbiota; F. nucleatum; Colibactin-producing E. coli; Prognostic markers; Diagnostic markers; Dysbiosis

Core tip: Many clinical studies have reported a disruption in the gut microbiota balance and in the faecal metabolome in colorectal cancer. In this review, we describe the modifications in the microbiota composition and metabolome observed in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissue and stool samples. Then, we detail how these microbiota modifications may represent novel and promising non-invasive diagnostic and/or prognostic markers for CRC and advanced adenoma.