Identifying fecal microbiota signatures of colorectal cancer in a Vietnamese cohort

Pham Thi Tuyet Nhung; Hang Thi Thu Le; Quang Huy Nguyen; Dao Thi Huyen; Dong Van Quyen; Le Huu Song; Tran Van Thuan; Tam Thi Thanh Tran

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1388740

Identifying fecal microbiota signatures of colorectal cancer in a Vietnamese cohort

Front Microbiol. 2024 Dec 24:15:1388740. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1388740. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Pham Thi Tuyet Nhung^{1

2}, Hang Thi Thu Le³, Quang Huy Nguyen³, Dao Thi Huyen⁴, Dong Van Quyen^{3

5}, Le Huu Song^{2

4}, Tran Van Thuan¹, Tam Thi Thanh Tran³

Affiliations

¹ Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
² 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam.
³ Department of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of Hanoi, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁴ Vietnamese-German Center for Medical Research (VG-CARE), Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁵ Molecular Microbiology Lab, Institute of Biotechnology (IBT), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam.

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the top three causes of global cancer mortality. In Vietnam, CRC is the third leading cause of death in women and the fourth cause of cancer mortality in men. A large number of metagenomic studies have reported the relationship between altered composition and function of the gut microbiota with CRC, but this relationship in low- and middle-income countries including Vietnam (with an estimated population of 100.3 million people in 2023, ranking 16th largest country by population in the world) is not well-explored.

Methods: We collected clinical data and fecal samples from 43 CRC patients and 44 healthy control subjects. The total community DNA of microorganisms was extracted from the fecal samples and analyzed for microbiota composition using Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene.

Results: We identified a significant difference in the overall fecal microbiota composition between CRC patients and healthy controls, and we detected several CRC-associated microbial signatures in fecal samples of Vietnamese patients with CRC, which overlapped with signatures from other countries and meta-analyses. Although patients with (n = 8) and without (n = 35) type 2 diabetes (T2D) exhibited distinct gut microbiota composition compared to healthy controls, increased relative abundances of putatively pathogenic species including Parvimonas micra, Peptostreptococcus stomatis, and Prevotella intermedia were consistent biomarkers for CRC. In contrast, several health-associated species were significantly depleted in CRC patients such as Lactobacillus johnsonii and Bifidobacterium longum in CRC/non-T2D patients, Ruminococcus species, Bacteroides uniformis, and Phascolarctobacterium faecium in CRC/T2D patients, and Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum in both CRC groups combined.

Conclusion: Our findings confirm alterations in gut microbiota composition in CRC in a pilot Vietnamese cohort and highlight several gut microbial taxa that may have inhibitory or driver roles in CRC. This and future studies will enable the development of cancer diagnostics and treatment strategies for CRC in Vietnam, with a focus on targeting the microbiota.

Keywords: 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing; Vietnamese patients; cancer signatures; colorectal cancer; fecal microbiota.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 108.04-2021.22. This study was supported by the 108 Military Central Hospital, the Vietnamese-German Center for Medical Research (VG-CARE), and the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi.