REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1611698
This article is part of the Research TopicUncovering Microbial Biomarkers and Interventions in Colorectal Cancer: a Transformative Journey from Pathogenesis to TherapyView all 6 articles
Metabolic Interactions: How Gut Microbial Metabolites Influence Colorectal Cancer
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Clinical Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinses Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a growing public health concern due to its rising incidence and high rate of cancer-associated deaths. Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota and their metabolites are critically involved in the initiation and advancement of CRC. These metabolites, which originate from the breakdown of nutrients from food and host-related substances through microbial activity in the gut, can profoundly influence tumor formation. In addition to well-studied compounds such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs), tryptophan metabolites, and polyamines, this review highlights emerging metabolites—including hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and formate—that have recently drawn attention for their roles in colorectal carcinogenesis. We also incorporate recent mechanistic insights, such as butyrate-induced ferroptosis and H₂S-mediated protein persulfidation, to illustrate how microbial metabolites influence cancer cell metabolism. Moreover, the potential of microbial metabolites as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of CRC is discussed. Therapeutic strategies targeting microbial metabolites—such as dietary modulation, combination therapies, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), and phage therapy—are also reviewed. By providing a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of microbial metabolic networks associated with CRC, this review underscores the critical functions of gut microbial metabolites in tumorigenesis, offering novel insights into their utility as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, as well as promising therapeutic targets.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, Gut Microbiota, Microbial Metabolites, biomarkers, therapeutic strategies
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Yang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Min Chen, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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