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Detection of Fusobacterium nucleatum in stool and colonic tissues from Norwegian colorectal cancer patients

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 November 2019

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Abstract

Norway has one of the world’s highest incidences of colorectal cancer (CRC). Accumulating research suggests that the intestinal microbiota may have an important role in initiation and progression of colorectal cancer. In order to evaluate microbiome-based biomarkers for non-invasive detection of CRC, the levels of Fusobacterium nucleatum and selected Escherichia coli toxin genes in stool and mucosa from a small cohort of Norwegian patients were investigated. The study cohort included 72 patients scheduled for colonoscopy. The patients were divided into three groups upon their examinations: cancer, polyp, and control groups. Levels of F. nucleatum in stool samples were significantly higher in the cancer group compared with the control group and the polyp group. High levels of F. nucleatum in stool reflected detection of F. nucleatum in the tumor tissues of colorectal cancer patients. However, no difference in the levels of E. coli toxin genes in neither stool nor biopsy samples between the patient groups was observed. This study suggests that a quantitative PCR assay targeting F. nucleatum in stool samples has the potential to be included in a larger panel of biomarkers for non-invasive testing for colorectal cancer.

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Change history

  • 28 November 2019

    Two affiliations of author John Christopher Noone were not included in the original article and have been added here. Also, Acknowledgments of the originally published article is not complete. Please see the corrected section below.

  • 28 November 2019

    Two affiliations of author John Christopher Noone were not included in the original article and have been added here. Also, Acknowledgments of the originally published article is not complete. Please see the corrected section below.

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Acknowledgments

Students at Oslo Metropolitan University (Mia Sandgren et al., Sammy Ramstock et al., and Silje Mathiassen et al.) have contributed to parts of the contents in this manuscript. We thank the Pathology Dept. at Akershus University Hospital for characterization of tumors. We also express our gratitude to biomedical laboratory scientist Eva Smedsrud, Dept. of Multidisciplinary Laboratory Science and Medical Biochemistry, Genetic Unit, for all help with patient inclusion and sample processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences and Health, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Hege Smith Tunsjø

  2. Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway

    Hege Smith Tunsjø & John Christopher Noone

  3. Department of Multidisciplinary Laboratory Science and Medical Biochemistry, Genetic Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway

    Gro Gundersen, Fredrik Rangnes & Vahid Bemanian

  4. Department of Gastroenterology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway

    Alexander Endres

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  1. Hege Smith Tunsjø
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  2. Gro Gundersen
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  4. John Christopher Noone
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  6. Vahid Bemanian
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Correspondence to Hege Smith Tunsjø.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical considerations

The regional committee for medical and health-related research ethics (REK 2012/1944) and the data protection manager at Ahus have approved the study. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Tunsjø, H.S., Gundersen, G., Rangnes, F. et al. Detection of Fusobacterium nucleatum in stool and colonic tissues from Norwegian colorectal cancer patients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 38, 1367–1376 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-019-03562-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-019-03562-7

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