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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2026; 18(12): 123043
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123043
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123043
Preoperative gut dysbiosis and its correlation with postoperative infectious complications and tumor recurrence in colorectal cancer patients
Rui Luo, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (Hefei First People’s Hospital), Hefei 230061, Anhui Province, China
Rui Luo, Hai-Fen Ji, Lin-Ding Wang, Department of Microbiology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China
Co-first authors: Rui Luo and Hai-Fen Ji.
Author contributions: Luo R was responsible for study design, data collection, and manuscript drafting; Ji HF contributed to sample processing, sequencing data analysis, and manuscript preparation; Wang LD supervised the study, provided critical manuscript revision, and obtained ethical approval. All authors approved the final manuscript. Luo R and Ji HF contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
AI contribution statement: In accordance with the journal’s AI Tool Usage Policy, the authors declare that no AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript, including study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, or manuscript writing. The authors assume full responsibility and accountability for the content of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Hefei First People’s Hospital, No. 2026-140-01.
Informed consent statement: The requirement for written informed consent was waived by the Ethics Committee of Hefei First People’s Hospital because of the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Lin-Ding Wang, Department of Microbiology, Anhui Medical University, No. 81 Meishan Road, Shushan District, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China. 2035010018@stu.ahmu.edu.cn
Received: June 10, 2026
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: October 28, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 152 Days and 0.8 Hours
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: October 28, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 152 Days and 0.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Preoperative gut dysbiosis, defined by Shannon diversity index < 3.0 or Dysbiosis Index (DI) ≥ 2, was identified in 61.8% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients undergoing curative resection. Dysbiosis independently predicted 30-day postoperative infectious complications (odds ratio = 2.85) and 2-year tumor recurrence (hazard ratio = 2.42) after multivariable adjustment. A combined biomarker model integrating the DI, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin achieved area under the curve = 0.82 for infectious complication prediction. These findings support routine preoperative gut microbiome assessment as a clinically actionable risk stratification tool in perioperative CRC management.