Affiliations 

  • 1 Division of Molecular Diagnostics of Oncogenic Infections, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2 Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  • 3 Diet, Genes and Environment Unit, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 4 CESP, INSERM U1018, Université Paris-Sud, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, Cedex, France
  • 5 Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
  • 6 Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany
  • 7 Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece
  • 8 Dipartamento di Medicina Clinica e Chirugia, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
  • 9 Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, 'Civic-M.P. Arezzo' Hospital, Ragusa, Italy
  • 10 Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy
  • 11 Cancer Risk Factors and Life-Style Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research and Prevention Institute-ISPO, Florence, Italy
  • 12 Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, Città della Salute e della Scienza University-Hospital and Center for Cancer Prevention (CPO), Turin, Italy
  • 13 Department of Determinants of Chronic Diseases (DCD), National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, Netherlands
  • 14 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
  • 15 Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública, Instituto de Investigacion Biosanitaria ibs, Granada, Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 16 Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Llobregat, Spain
  • 17 CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
  • 18 Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
  • 19 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 20 Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Group, UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Int J Cancer, 2018 Jul 15;143(2):245-252.
PMID: 29377173 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.31283

Abstract

The gut microbiome is increasingly implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC) development. A subgroup of patients diagnosed with CRC show high antibody responses to Streptococcus gallolyticus subspecies gallolyticus (SGG). However, it is unclear whether the association is also present pre-diagnostically. We assessed the association of antibody responses to SGG proteins in pre-diagnostic serum samples with CRC risk in a case-control study nested within a prospective cohort. Pre-diagnostic serum samples from 485 first incident CRC cases (mean time between blood draw and diagnosis 3.4 years) and 485 matched controls in the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer (EPIC) study were analyzed for antibody responses to 11 SGG proteins using multiplex serology. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multivariable conditional logistic regression models. Antibody positivity for any of the 11 SGG proteins was significantly associated with CRC risk with 56% positive controls compared to 63% positive cases (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04-1.77). Positivity for two or more proteins of a previously identified SGG 6-marker panel with greater CRC-specificity was also observed among 9% of controls compared to 17% of CRC cases, corresponding to a significantly increased CRC risk (OR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.44-3.27). In this prospective nested case-control study, we observed a positive association between antibody responses to SGG and CRC development in serum samples taken before evident disease onset. Further work is required to establish the possibly etiological significance of these observations and whether SGG serology may be applicable for CRC risk stratification.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.