probiome Sign in
← Conditions CancersDigestive system

Colorectal cancer

Cancer of the colon or rectum.

Compared within 10 studies that had both: 475 people with colorectal cancer and 404 healthy people. 81 microbes are less common in people with colorectal cancer, and 43 more common.

A difference is an association: it doesn’t mean these microbes cause, prevent or treat colorectal cancer.

Phylum

Searching opens both lists and shows only matching rows.

Less common in colorectal cancer · 81

Strongest first, then the biggest gap · Each figure is 10 people Strongest first · Each figure is 10 people
  1. Roseburia intestinalis in 10 studies Healthy 64% colorectal cancer 35%
  2. Clostridiaceae bacterium in 10 studies Healthy 84% colorectal cancer 62%
  3. Faecalicatena fissicatena in 10 studies Healthy 64% colorectal cancer 40%
  4. Clostridiales bacterium KLE1615 in 10 studies Healthy 68% colorectal cancer 46%
  5. Blautia obeum in 10 studies Healthy 82% colorectal cancer 62%

More common in colorectal cancer · 43

Strongest first, then the biggest gap · Each figure is 10 people Strongest first · Each figure is 10 people
  1. Peptostreptococcus stomatis in 10 studies Healthy 4.0% colorectal cancer 37%
  2. Dialister pneumosintes in 10 studies Healthy 3.6% colorectal cancer 32%
  3. Parvimonas micra in 10 studies Healthy 5.2% colorectal cancer 34%
  4. Fusobacterium nucleatum in 10 studies Healthy 4.1% colorectal cancer 31%
  5. Fusobacterium periodonticum in 10 studies Healthy 1.1% colorectal cancer 19%

As many carry these · 2 the amount differs

Strongest first, then the biggest gap · Each figure is 10 people Strongest first · Each figure is 10 people
  1. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in 10 studies Healthy 83% colorectal cancer 89%

    Carriers have about twice as much, in 6 of 7 studies (0.18% → 0.46% of their gut microbes).

  2. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in 10 studies Healthy 97% colorectal cancer 94%

    Carriers have less, in 6 of 8 studies (3.5% → 2.7% of their gut microbes).

Where these numbers come from

Studies
Only GMrepo projects that had people with the condition and healthy people, 10 or more of each. Numbers come from those studies, never from pooling.Sampled in China, France, Iran, Mali, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom.
How common
The share of people whose sample has any of it, in the people with the condition and in the healthy people of those same studies. Tested within studies (Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel, corrected for testing many microbes); a difference counts when it is clear and meaningful (Cohen’s h of 0.2 or more).
Strength word
Counted by code from how many studies point the same way: Seen again and again (3 or more, none clearly the other way), Seen more than once (2, the majority), Seen once (1, listed last). Where studies disagree, a row isn’t listed.
Each study
Tap a row for every study’s own numbers, and for how much carriers have.
Analysis
Our analysis of GMrepo data. GMrepo on Data sources · Read the rules

Also compared · 565 microbes

Compared within studies that had both, but not listed above.

Studies disagree · 27

No meaningful difference · 538
PubMed · human studies and reviews first

Recent research

All research on it
  1. Observational Gut · 2026
    Gut microbiome signatures in colorectal neoplasia: a cross-sectional study across neoplasia stages and subtypes.
    PubMed ↗
  2. Review APMIS · 2026
    Iron, Biofilm, and Colorectal Cancer: Mechanistic Insights Into Enterococcus faecalis Pathogenesis.
    PubMed ↗
  3. Review Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    Intratumoral microbiota: implications for colorectal cancer pathogenesis and therapy.
    PubMed ↗
  4. Review Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    From gut microbiota-driven mucosal barrier disruption to myeloid-dominant immunosuppressive niches in colorectal cancer.
    PubMed ↗
  5. Review Microbiological research · 2026
    Mechanisms linking the gut microbiota to colorectal cancer development and progression.
    PubMed ↗

Source: PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 446 linked papers, last 10 years