Fecal immunochemical tests from population-based colorectal cancer screening programs support prospective microbiome cohorts
Menée à partir de l'analyse de l'ADN extrait d'échantillons fécaux résiduels issus de tests FIT (925 personnes dont 478 témoins sains, 403 présentant un adénome de stade précoce ou avancé et 44 atteintes d'un cancer colorectal), cette étude examine le rôle du microbiome intestinal dans le développement de néoplasies colorectales
Background : Large, prospective cohorts are needed to research the gut microbiome’s role in colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. We evaluated the gut microbiome leveraging residual fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) from a CRC screening program in Turin, Italy, and conducted one of the largest population-based case-control studies across the adenoma-carcinoma sequence to date.
Methods : We extracted DNA from residual FIT stool, used whole-genome shotgun sequencing, and included those with CRC (N = 44), advanced adenomas (N = 269), early adenomas (N = 134), and FIT-negative controls (N = 478). Alpha diversity, beta diversity, and species, gene, and pathway relative abundances were estimated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate associations of these metrics with colorectal neoplasms.
Results : Alpha diversity was mostly inversely associated with colorectal neoplasms, particularly early adenomas (OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25–0.80; P = 0.01). Presence of oral pathogens, including Parvimonas micra, was associated with higher odds of CRC. Furthermore, Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis were strongly associated with higher odds of all colorectal neoplasms. Several genes and pathways were associated with colorectal neoplasms.
Conclusions : Our findings align with smaller studies of the gut microbiome and colorectal neoplasms, supporting that CRC screening programs provide opportunities to prospectively study the gut microbiome’s association with cancer risk in large populations.
British Journal of Cancer , article en libre accès, 2026