New research: Detecting intestinal bacteria can detect early colorectal cancer

Japanese researchers found that early colorectal cancer can be detected by detecting changes in specific bacteria in stool. The results of this study are expected to be used for early and simple detection of colorectal cancer and to prevent cancer by improving intestinal flora. In recent years, colorectal cancer has become the most common cancer in Japan, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Researchers from Japan National Cancer Research Center, Tokyo University of Technology and Osaka University analyzed the stools of 616 people, including healthy people and patients with early colorectal cancer, and analyzed their intestinal bacterial growth and decrease and material metabolism by means of macrogenome sequencing. Researchers published this new technique for detecting early colorectal cancer in the British Journal of Nature Medicine. According to the report, the average number of bacteria in each person's intestine is about 400 billion, and intestinal flora is associated with various diseases, including intestinal diseases.

Researchers found that two special bacteria, Atropobacter minimus and Actinomyces odontosa, increased in the early stage of colorectal cancer. They believed that the increase of these two bacteria was not the result of colorectal cancer but the cause. By detecting these two bacterial increments in stool, early colorectal cancer can be detected, and the detection accuracy can reach about 80%. Now the detection of early colorectal cancer is usually fecal occult blood test, the accuracy is not high.