Copyright
©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2026; 18(2): 115010
Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.115010
Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.115010
Microbiota-metabolite signatures in metastatic colorectal cancer: Promise, pitfalls, and the path forward
Ting-Ting Zhang, Han-Meng Zhang, Department of Oncology, Huai’an Hospital of Huai’an City, Huai’an 223299, Jiangsu Province, China
Juan Yao, Department of Radiation Oncology, Huai’an Hospital of Huai’an City, Huai’an 223299, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Juan Yao and Han-Meng Zhang.
Author contributions: Zhang TT was responsible for conceptualization, methodology, data curation, and writing original draft; Yao J and Zhang HM were responsible for conceptualization, investigation, writing review and editing, supervision, methodology, validation, and supervision as co-corresponding authors; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
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: Han-Meng Zhang, MD, Department of Oncology, Huai’an Hospital of Huai’an City, No. 19 Shanyang Avenue, Huai’an 223299, Jiangsu Province, China.
Received: October 9, 2025
Revised: November 5, 2025
Accepted: November 27, 2025
Published online: February 15, 2026
Processing time: 121 Days and 9.4 Hours
Revised: November 5, 2025
Accepted: November 27, 2025
Published online: February 15, 2026
Processing time: 121 Days and 9.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Deng et al explores the role of gut microbiota and metabolites in colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis using 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. It identifies significant differences in microbial communities and metabolites between metastatic and non-metastatic CRC patients. The findings suggest that specific microbial taxa and metabolites may contribute to metastasis progression, offering potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. Despite some limitations, such as small sample size and cross-sectional design, the study provides valuable insights into the microbiota-metabolite axis and its potential for therapeutic targeting in CRC.