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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1525609
Prevalence of enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis in patients with colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Other, Shenzhen, China
- 2 Shenzhen Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
- 3 Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
- 4 Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
The gut microbiome, specifically enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF), has been reported to play a role in colorectal cancer development. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies to compare the prevalence of ETBF in patients with colorectal cancer and healthy controls as well as in various stages of colorectal cancer. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies published until May 2024. We utilized studies either comparing the prevalence of ETBF in patients with colorectal cancer and healthy control or examining its prevalence across different stages of colorectal cancer. The prevalence of ETBF colonization in biological samples from individuals with colorectal cancer compared to that in healthy controls or adjacent normal tissue as well as the association between the prevalence of ETBF and various stages of colorectal cancer were plotted using a random-effect or fixed-effect model. Results: Fourteen relevant articles were identified. Meta-analyses revealed that patients with colorectal cancer had a higher likelihood of having ETBF than healthy controls (odds ratio [OR]: 2.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.63-3.98, I 2 = 55%). Additionally, ETBF detection was lower in stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ than in stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ colorectal cancer (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.41-0.91, I 2 = 41%). Discussion: The prevalence of ETBF was consistently higher in the tissue and fecal samples of patients with colorectal cancer than in those of controls. A difference in ETBF prevalence between stage I/II and stage III/IV colorectal cancer was noted, but further analysis revealed that the conclusion is unreliable.
Keywords: enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, colorectal cancer, Prevalence, Systematic review, Meta-analysis
Received: 20 Nov 2024; Accepted: 19 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xia, Ma, Li, Li and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hui Li, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.