Salivary Fusobacterium nucleatum serves as a potential biomarker for colorectal cancer

Xin Zhang; Yaping Zhang; Xinru Gui; Yanli Zhang; Zhenhong Zhang; Wendan Chen; Xiaowei Zhang; Yanxiang Wang; Mengjiao Zhang; Ziqi Shang; Yiwei Xin; Yi Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104203

Salivary Fusobacterium nucleatum serves as a potential biomarker for colorectal cancer

iScience. 2022 Apr 4;25(5):104203. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104203. eCollection 2022 May 20.

Authors

Xin Zhang^{1

2}, Yaping Zhang¹, Xinru Gui¹, Yanli Zhang³, Zhenhong Zhang^{2

4}, Wendan Chen¹, Xiaowei Zhang^{2

4}, Yanxiang Wang^{2

4}, Mengjiao Zhang¹, Ziqi Shang¹, Yiwei Xin¹, Yi Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
² Molecular Diagnostics Center, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Jinan 250031, China.
⁴ Jinan AXZE Medical Test Laboratory, Jinan 250102, China.

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) is primarily colonized in the oral cavity. Recently, Fn has been closely associated with the tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, we showed that the relative level of Fn DNA was increased in the saliva of the CRC group compared with the normal colonoscopy, hyperplastic polyp, and adenoma groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis illustrated that Fn DNA was superior to carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in CRC diagnosis. Moreover, levels of Fn DNA were associated with the overall survival and disease-free survival of CRC patients, which was an independent factor for prognostic prediction. Transcriptome sequencing identified 1,287 differentially expressed mRNAs in tumor tissues between CRC patients with high-Fn and low-Fn infection. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis showed that ECM-receptor interaction and focal adhesion were the top two significant pathways. Overall, salivary Fn DNA may be a noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CRC patients.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Cancer; Diagnostics; Medicine; Microbiology.