Fusobacterium detected in Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues

Abstract Possible correlation of microbiota with Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) remain unclear. Previous studies have linked Fusobacterium species to colon and esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. We examined Fusobacterium species in BE tissues of patients without and those with EAC as well as EAC tissues and also investigated its association with molecular changes, such as TP53 mutation status, telomere length and DNA methylation status. Using three different groups of biopsies obtained from non-neoplastic BE from patients without cancer (n=67; N group), with EAC (n=27; ADJ group) and EAC (n=22; T group), Fusobacterium nucreatum (F. nucleatum) and whole Fusobacterium species (Pan-fusobacterium) were examined by quantitative real-time PCR. Data were correlated with clinical and molecular characteristics. F. nucleatum was detectable in 31.8% (7/22) of T group, but not in ADJ and N groups. The amount of Pan-fusobacterium was significantly higher in T group compared to that in both ADJ and N groups (P=0.002, 0.017, respectively), while it was not significantly different among ADJ and N groups. Higher amount of Pan-fusobacterium in EAC tissues seemed to be closely associated with higher T stage (P=0.001), lymphatic invasion positive (P=0.02) and lymph node metastasis positive cases (P=0.007) and TP53 mutation negative cases (P=0.004). Higher amount of Pan-fusobacterium in non-neoplastic BE tissues (ADJ and N groups) was correlated with presence of hital hernia (P=0.04) and telomere shortening (R=-0.22, P=0.024). Our result suggested the pathogenic role of Fusobacterium species in the EAC and BE, featuring clinicopatological and molecular changes.