{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T05:18:35Z","timestamp":1783487915313,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Lymph node metastasis (LNM) critically influences prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC), yet the mechanisms driving this process, particularly the contribution of the intratumoral microbiota, remain insufficiently defined.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We performed 16S rRNA sequencing on tumor tissue from a discovery cohort of 122 CRC patients, followed by validation in one internal and one external validation cohort. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence\n                      <jats:italic>in situ<\/jats:italic>\n                      hybridization (FISH), and transcriptomic deconvolution were used to explore tumor immune-contexture features and tissue-associated\n                      <jats:italic>Phascolarctobacterium<\/jats:italic>\n                      -like signals. Bulk RNA-seq data were analyzed using Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and pathway enrichment to explore host transcriptomic modules and molecular pathways associated with microbial abundance.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Higher tumor tissue-associated Phascolarctobacterium abundance showed a modest positive association with lymph node metastasis and was associated with worse overall survival in the discovery cohort (HR\u00a0=\u00a03.892, 95% CI\u00a0=\u00a01.441\u201310.513, P\u00a0=\u00a00.007). These tumors showed exploratory immune-contexture differences, including lower CD8+ T-cell-related signals and higher macrophage\/M2 macrophage-related signals. WGCNA identified exploratory abundance-associated modules enriched in keratinocyte differentiation, epithelial development, and MAPK signaling, whereas low-abundance-associated modules were linked to lipid metabolism and redox regulation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Tumor tissue-associated\n                      <jats:italic>Phascolarctobacterium<\/jats:italic>\n                      abundance showed exploratory associations with lymph node metastasis, poorer overall survival in the discovery cohort, and immune-contexture features in CRC. These findings are exploratory and require validation in larger independent cohorts and functional studies.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1784151","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T04:52:29Z","timestamp":1783486349000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tumor tissue-associated Phascolarctobacterium is associated with lymph node metastasis, prognosis, and immune-contexture features in colorectal cancer"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Jiale","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Colorectal Surgery, Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital\/Hospital Affiliated to Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences\/Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University","place":["Taiyuan, 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