J Pathol Transl Med.  2022 May;56(3):144-151. 10.4132/jptm.2022.03.13.

Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of Fusobacterium nucleatum in colorectal cancer: a systemic review and meta-analysis

• Kim Y
• Cho NY
• Kang GH

• KMID: 2529805
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4132/jptm.2022.03.13

Abstract

Background
Fusobacterium nucleatum has been identified to promote tumor progression in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, association between F. nucleatum and prognostic or clinicopathological features has been diverse among studies, which could be affected by type of biospecimen (formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded or fresh frozen [FF]).
Methods
Articles were systemically reviewed for studies that included the correlation between F. nucleatum and prognosis or clinicopathological features in CRC.
Results
Ten articles, eight studies with survival-related features involving 3,199 patients and nine studies with clinical features involving 2,655 patients, were eligible for the meta-analysis. Overall survival, disease-free survival, and cancer-specific survival were all associated with worse prognosis in F. nucleatum–high patients (p<.05). In subgroup analysis, only studies with FF tissues retained prognostic significance with F. nucleatum. In meta-analysis of clinicopathological variables, F. nucleatum level was associated with location within colon, pT category, MLH1 hypermethylation, microsatellite instability status, and BRAF mutation regardless of type of biospecimen. However, lymph node metastasis and KRAS mutation was only associated with F. nucleatum level in FF-based studies.
Conclusions
In conclusion, type of biospecimen could affect the role of F. nucleatum as a biomarker associated with clinicopathological features and prognosis.

Keyword

Fusobacteria; Colorectal neoplasms; Prognosis

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Flow chart of literature search and study selection.

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  Fig. 2. Forest plot for the correlation between Fusarium nucleatum and survival in colorectal cancer [14-18,22-24]: (A) overall survival, (B) disease-free survival, and (C) cancer-specific survival. HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval.

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  Fig. 3. Funnel plot for studies included in meta-analysis between Fusarium nucleatum level and survival: (A) overall survival, (B) disease-free survival, and (C) cancer-specific survival.

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