Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2026; 18(10): 121850
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.121850
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.121850
Prognostic significance of Fusobacterium nucleatum in colorectal cancer using reconstructed survival data
Yi-Xiao Liu, Department of Stomatology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University and The First Hospital of Jiaxing, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province 314000, China
Zhi-Heng Chen, Guang-Jian Dou, Jia-Jun Lu, Yuan Zhou, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University and The First Hospital of Jiaxing, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province 314000, China
Co-first authors: Yi-Xiao Liu and Zhi-Heng Chen.
Author contributions: Liu YX and Chen ZH wrote the first draft of the manuscript; Dou GJ, Lu JJ, and Zhou Y performed material preparation, data collection, and analysis; Zhou Y contributed to the study conception and design; Liu YX, Chen ZH, Dou GJ, Lu JJ, and Zhou Y commented on previous versions of the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript. Liu YX and Chen ZH contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors.
AI contribution statement: No generative artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript. The authors conducted all aspects of the study, including its conception, data analysis, interpretation, and writing, and take full responsibility for its content.
Supported by the National Clinical Key Specialty Construction Project - Oncology, No. 2023-GJZK-001; and Jiaxing City and Provinces to Build Medical Key Disciplines -Oncology, No. 2023-SSGJ-001.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Corresponding author: Yuan Zhou, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University and The First Hospital of Jiaxing, No. 1882 Zhonghuan South Road, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province 314000, China.
Received: April 3, 2026
Revised: June 13, 2026
Accepted: August 18, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 168 Days and 14.7 Hours
Revised: June 13, 2026
Accepted: August 18, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 168 Days and 14.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This meta-analysis evaluated the prognostic significance of tissue Fusobacterium nucleatum abundance in colorectal cancer using reconstructed individual patient data from Kaplan–Meier curves. High/positive F. nucleatum expression was associated with poorer disease-free survival and cancer-specific survival, whereas no significant association was observed for overall survival. These findings suggest that F. nucleatum may be more closely associated with recurrence and cancer-specific mortality than with all-cause mortality, although further validation is required.