REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
This article is part of the Research TopicInterplay between Environmental Drivers and Genetic or Epigenetic Predispositions on Gastrointestinal Cancer EvolutionView all 6 articles
Microbiota-Host metabolism reprogramming in colorectal cancer: from pathogenesis to precision therapies
Provisionally accepted
Chengxu Guo1
Caixia Wang2*- 1Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- 2Binzhou Medical University-Yantai Campus, Yantai, China
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly aggressive malignancy characterized by complex metabolic reprogramming, a hallmark that provides both biosynthetic precursors and signaling molecules to support tumor growth, invasion and therapeutic resistance. A key mechanism underlying this metabolic rewiring is the dynamic interplay between the host and gut microbiota. Gut microbiota derived metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids, polyamines and tryptophan derivatives, extensively reshape the CRC metabolic network and modulate the immune microenvironment, thereby influencing tumor progression and therapy response. This review systematically outlines the core features and molecular mechanisms of metabolic reprogramming in CRC, highlights the role of microbiota–host co-metabolism in regulating energy acquisition and immune-metabolic crosstalk, and discusses emerging therapeutic strategies that integrate metabolic targeting and microbiota modulation for precision intervention in CRC.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer1, metabolic reprogramming2, microbiota-derived metabolites3, immunometabolism4, Precision therapy5
Received: 26 Sep 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo and Wang. 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: Caixia Wang, cxwang@bzmc.edu.cn
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