Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Dec 31;25(1):2306676.
doi: 10.1080/15384047.2024.2306676. Epub 2024 Jan 30.

Fusobacterium nucleatum in tumors: from tumorigenesis to tumor metastasis and tumor resistance

Chun Ye  1 , Xiao Liu  1 , Zilun Liu  1 , Chuxuan Pan  1 , Xiaowei Zhang  1 , Zhanyi Zhao  1 , Haitao Sun  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Fusobacterium nucleatum in tumors: from tumorigenesis to tumor metastasis and tumor resistance

Chun Ye et al. Cancer Biol Ther. .

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum, an anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium primarily residing in the oral cavity, has garnered significant attention for its emerging role in cancer progression and prognosis. While extensive research has revealed mechanistic links between Fusobacterium nucleatum and colorectal cancer, a comprehensive review spanning its presence and metastatic implications in cancers beyond colorectal origin is conspicuously absent. This paper broadens our perspective from colorectal cancer to various malignancies associated with Fusobacterium nucleatum, including oral, pancreatic, esophageal, breast, and gastric cancers. Our central focus is to unravel the mechanisms governing Fusobacterium nucleatum colonization, initiation, and promotion of metastasis across diverse cancer types. Additionally, we explore Fusobacterium nucleatum's adverse impacts on cancer therapies, particularly within the domains of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Furthermore, this paper underscores the clinical research significance of Fusobacterium nucleatum as a potential tumor biomarker and therapeutic target, offering a novel outlook on its applicability in cancer detection and prognostic assessment.

Keywords: Fusobacterium nucleatum; mechanism; tumor metastasis; tumor resistance; tumorigenesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
F. nucleatum promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis by influencing the immune response. Fn, fusobacterium nucleatum. Figure created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
F. Nucleatum promotes tumorigenesis metastasis through affecting RNA expression. Figure created with BioRender.com.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Mechanism of F. Nucleatum for CRC. Figure created with BioRender.com.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Mechanism of F. Nucleatum for oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer. Figure created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brennan CA, Garrett WS.. Fusobacterium nucleatum - symbiont, opportunist and oncobacterium. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019;17(3):156–19. doi:10.1038/s41579-018-0129-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang L, Liu Y, Zheng HJ, Zhang CP. The Oral Microbiota May Have Influence on Oral Cancer, Front Cell Infect Microbiol. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019. 9:476. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2019.00476. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhao H, Chu M, Huang Z, Yang X, Ran S, Hu B, Zhang C, Liang J. Variations in oral microbiota associated with oral cancer. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):11773. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-11779-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shao D, Vogtmann E, Liu A, Qin J, Chen W, Abnet CC, Wei W. Microbial characterization of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma from a high-risk region of China. Cancer. 2019;125(22):3993–4002. doi:10.1002/cncr.32403. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yamamura K, Baba Y, Nakagawa S, Mima K, Miyake K, Nakamura K, Sawayama H, Kinoshita K, Ishimoto T, Iwatsuki M, et al. Human Microbiome Fusobacterium Nucleatum in Esophageal Cancer Tissue Is Associated with Prognosis. Clin Cancer Res. 2016;22(22):5574–5581. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.Ccr-16-1786. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types