Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 6, 2018; 6(13): 577-588
Published online Nov 6, 2018. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v6.i13.577
Role of bile acids in colon carcinogenesis
Thi Thinh Nguyen, Trong Thuan Ung, Nam Ho Kim, Young Do Jung
Thi Thinh Nguyen, Trong Thuan Ung, Young Do Jung, Department of Biochemistry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Jeonnam 58138, South Korea
Nam Ho Kim, Department of Nephrology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju 501-190, South Korea
Author contributions: Nguyen TT and Ung TT performed the data collection and wrote the paper; Kim NH and Jung YD reviewed and edited the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: To the best of our knowledge, no conflict of interest exists.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Young Do Jung, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Seoyang Ro 264, Hwasun, Jeonnam 58138, South Korea. ydjung@chonnam.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-61-3792772 Fax: +82-61-3792781
Received: June 20, 2018
Peer-review started: June 20, 2018
First decision: August 29, 2018
Revised: September 15, 2018
Accepted: October 11, 2018
Article in press: October 12, 2018
Published online: November 6, 2018
Core Tip

Core tip: Even though there is a close relationship between a high concentration of bile acids (BAs) and high risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), the mechanism of BAs promoting colon carcinogenesis is still not fully understood. In this review paper, we discuss molecular mechanisms of BAs as CRC promoters, their role in CRC progression, the oncogenic genes and signaling pathways involved, and important therapies against BA-related CRC.