{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T05:06:02Z","timestamp":1789621562866,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000},"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:p>\n                    Gastric cancer (GC) is closely associated with microbial dysbiosis; however, the spatial\u2013temporal characteristics of the gut, paracancerous, and intratumoral microbiomes, as well as their interrelationships during tumor progression, remain insufficiently defined. This study aimed to characterize these microbiomes in 85 GC patients from Northwest China using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and functional annotation. Clinical samples included feces, tumor tissues, and paratumor mucosal tissues (\u22655 cm from the tumor margin), enabling comprehensive profiling of microbial composition at the phylum, genus, and species levels, as well as functional pathway analysis. The results showed that the microbial community was dominated by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (combined relative abundance &amp;gt;75%), maintaining structural stability across tumor stages II\u2013IV (Stage I n=2 is only descriptively reported and excluded from formal statistical testing), thereby supporting the \u201ccore microbiota resilience\u201d hypothesis. PERMANOVA revealed that tumor stage had a statistically significant yet modest effect on community structure (R\u00b2 = 0.039, P\u00a0=\u00a00.032). MaAsLin2 identified stage-associated differential genera:\n                    <jats:italic>Roseburia<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Megamonas<\/jats:italic>\n                    decreased with advancing stage, whereas\n                    <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Enterobacter<\/jats:italic>\n                    were enriched in advanced stages (III\/IV). Functional pathway analysis revealed stage-specific metabolic remodeling: Stage II was enriched in DNA repair, glycolysis, aromatic amino acid, and nucleotide biosynthesis pathways; Stage IV showed enrichment in protein deamination\/demethylation, pyruvate fermentation, and coenzyme metabolism pathways. Correlation analysis further revealed a characteristic pattern of \u201cpathogen enrichment and beneficial bacteria depletion.\u201d\n                    <jats:italic>Fusobacterium nucleatum<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Helicobacter pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    exhibited strong positive correlations with GC, whereas short-chain fatty acid\u2013producing bacteria such as\n                    <jats:italic>Roseburia<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Faecalibacterium prausnitzii<\/jats:italic>\n                    showed significant negative correlations, particularly in paracancerous tissues. We established multi-layered taxonomic correlation profiles based on intra-cohort microbial shifts, in which Bacteroides stercoris and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum exhibited the most pronounced stage-related abundance changes in the fecal microbiota across tumor stages. Overall, this study systematically delineates the structural stability, stage-specific functional remodeling, and interrelated dynamics of gut, paracancerous, and intratumoral microbiomes in gastric cancer. These findings provide descriptive baseline data of cross-compartment microbiome variation within gastric cancer patients across tumor stages, which only deliver preliminary correlative clues of GC-related microbial shifts and require further multi-cohort verification with non-cancer control populations.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1897107","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T04:48:56Z","timestamp":1789620536000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Gut microbiota characteristics of gastric cancer patients across distinct pathological stages and their associations with tumor and paratumor mucosal microbiota"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Guoqing","family":"Qi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University","place":["Lanzhou, China"]},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiping","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University","place":["Lanzhou, China"]},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juanjuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cuiying Biomedical Research Center, The Second Hospital & Clinical Medical School, Lanzhou University","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dekui","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cuiying Biomedical Research Center, The Second Hospital & Clinical Medical School, Lanzhou University","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B5002","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.1016\/j.resmic.2016.12.003","article-title":"Anti-pathogenic and probiotic attributes of Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from feces of Algerian infants and adults","volume":"168","author":"Ait Seddik","year":"2017","journal-title":"Res Microbiol"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"590","DOI":"10.1038\/nrgastro.2012.161","article-title":"The importance of the gut microbiota after bariatric surgery","volume":"9","author":"Aron-Wisnewsky","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol."},{"key":"B1414","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1915","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1104816","article-title":"Host-bacterial mutualism in the human intestine","volume":"307","author":"B\u00e4ckhed","year":"2005","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B5005","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1681824","article-title":"A. Microbiome influence in gastric cancer progression and therapeutic strategies","volume":"12","author":"Bautista","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front Med (Lausanne)"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aal5240","article-title":"Analysis of Fusobacterium persistence and antibiotic response in colorectal cancer","volume":"358","author":"Bullman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1915","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1104816","article-title":"Host-bacterial mutualism in the human intestine","volume":"307","author":"Bullman","year":"2005","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.esmogo.2024.100048","article-title":"Role of the microbiome in the development and treatment of gastric cancer: an overview of the biological and clinical landscape","volume":"4","author":"Cella","year":"2024","journal-title":"ESMO Gastrointestinal Oncol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2024.1383530","article-title":"Association between gut microbiota and gastric cancers: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study","volume":"15","author":"Chang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1228","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.33678","article-title":"Exploring the interactions between Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and other risk factors of gastric cancer: a pooled analysis in the stomach cancer pooling (StoP) project","volume":"149","author":"Collatuzzo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Cancer"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1104","DOI":"10.1038\/s41419-021-04396-y","article-title":"Interactions between gastric microbiota and metabolites in gastric cancer","volume":"12","author":"Dai","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cell Death Dis."},{"key":"B5006","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s40168-018-0605-2","article-title":"Simple statistical identification and removal of contaminant sequences in marker-gene and metagenomics data","volume":"6","author":"Davis","year":"2018","journal-title":"Microbiome"},{"key":"B5007","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S45","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1753-4887.2012.00505.x","article-title":"Role of the intestinal microbiome in health and disease: from correlation to causation","volume":"70","author":"de Vos","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nutr Rev"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2021.631140","article-title":"Low Bifidobacterium abundance in the lower gut microbiota is associated with Helicobacter pylori-related gastric ulcer and gastric cancer","volume":"12","author":"Devi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"B5008","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1787954","article-title":"The intricate interplay of microbial metabolomics and carcinogenesis: a spotlight on mechanistic pathways, clinical implications and methodological challenges","volume":"16","author":"Eysha","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191ra83","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1237439","article-title":"The core microbiota of the human gut","volume":"5","author":"Faith","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sci. Transl. Med."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms7528","article-title":"Gut microbiome development along the colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence","volume":"6","author":"Feng","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2017-314205","article-title":"Gastric microbial community profiling reveals a dysbiotic cancer-associated microbiota","volume":"67","author":"Ferreira","year":"2018","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"B6000","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1570","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-025-02035-2","article-title":"Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies","volume":"10","author":"Fierer","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nat Microbiol"},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1454","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2017-314814","article-title":"The oral microbiota in colorectal cancer","volume":"67","author":"Flemer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"B1616","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2019.07.008","article-title":"Tumor microbiome diversity and composition influence pancreatic cancer outcomes","volume":"178","author":"Galeano Ni\u00f1o","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"352","DOI":"10.1038\/nrgastro.2013.35","article-title":"The gastrointestinal mucus system in health and disease","volume":"10","author":"Johansson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1359","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2021-324755","article-title":"A faecal microbiota signature with high specificity for pancreatic cancer","volume":"71","author":"Kartal","year":"2022","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.1007\/s12041-023-01448-4","article-title":"Exploring the influences of geographical variation on sequence signatures in the human gut microbiome","volume":"102","author":"Kumar","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Genet."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1053\/j.gastro.2019.10.019","article-title":"Risk factors and incidence of gastric cancer after detection of helicobacter pylori infection: a large cohort study","volume":"158","author":"Kumar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Gastroenterology"},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31083\/fbl51619","article-title":"Arp2\/3 inhibition synergizes with PARP inhibitors by impairing homologous recombination in gastric cancer cells","volume":"31","author":"Li","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed)"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1186\/s12866-022-02594-y","article-title":"Analysis of gastric microbiome reveals three distinctive microbial communities associated with the occurrence of gastric cancer","volume":"22","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Microbiol."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1481","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abc3421","article-title":"Microbiome-derived inosine modulates response to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy","volume":"369","author":"Mager","year":"2020","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-47331-9_6","article-title":"Gastric cancer: the microbiome beyond Helicobacter pylori","volume":"444","author":"Mendes-Rocha","year":"2023","journal-title":"Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gpb.2017.06.002","article-title":"Human gut microbiota and gastrointestinal cancer","volume":"16","author":"Meng","year":"2018","journal-title":"Genomics Proteomics Bioinf."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopha.2021.111619","article-title":"Role of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids in cancer development and prevention","volume":"139","author":"Mirzaei","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biomed. Pharmacother."},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"925","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2016.00925","article-title":"Bifidobacteria and their role as members of the human gut microbiota","volume":"7","author":"O'Callaghan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1038\/nrc2857","article-title":"Helicobacter pylori: gastric cancer and beyond","volume":"10","author":"Polk","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Cancer"},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11467.x","article-title":"The microbiology of butyrate formation in the human colon","volume":"217","author":"Pryde","year":"2012","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. Lett."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1193","DOI":"10.1007\/s10620-018-5411-y","article-title":"Intestinal microbiota is altered in patients with gastric cancer from Shanxi province, China","volume":"64","author":"Qi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Dig. Dis. Sci."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1038\/nature08821","article-title":"A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing","volume":"464","author":"Qin","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2019.07.008","article-title":"Tumor Microbiome Diversity and Composition Influence Pancreatic Cancer Outcomes","volume":"178","author":"Riquelme","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abc4552","article-title":"The microbiome and human cancer","volume":"371","author":"Sepich-Poore","year":"2021","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16731","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0804812105","article-title":"Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is an anti-inflammatory commensal bacterium identified by gut microbiota analysis of Crohn disease patients","volume":"105","author":"Sokol","year":"2008","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21660","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"71","author":"Sung","year":"2021","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. Clin."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.15430\/jcp.2016.21.1.60","article-title":"Comparison of gastric microbiota between gastric juice and mucosa by next generation sequencing method","volume":"21","author":"Sung","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Cancer Prev."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1007\/s13205-023-03671-3","article-title":"Gut microbiota of healthy Asians and their discriminative features revealed by metagenomics approach","volume":"13","author":"Taha","year":"2023","journal-title":"3 Biotech."},{"key":"B5000","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms9051021","article-title":"Role of gut microbiota and probiotics in colorectal cancer: onset and progression","volume":"9","author":"Torres-Maravilla","year":"2021","journal-title":"Microorganisms"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ymben.2021.11.006","article-title":"Elucidating tumor-stromal metabolic crosstalk in colorectal cancer through integration of constraint-based models and LC-MS metabolomics","volume":"69","author":"Wang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Metab Eng"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1273","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(83)92719-8","article-title":"Unidentified curved bacilli on gastric epithelium in active chronic gastritis","volume":"321","author":"Warren","year":"1983","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-019-0406-6","article-title":"Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer","volume":"25","author":"Wirbel","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Med."},{"key":"B44","volume-title":"IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Helicobacter Pylori (Vol. 80)","year":"2004"},{"key":"B5001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/imt2.70090","article-title":"The interplay between tissue-resident microbiome and host proteins by integrated multi-omics during progression of colorectal adenoma to carcinoma","volume":"4","author":"Wu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Imeta"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.02994-21","article-title":"Fecal streptococcus alteration is associated with gastric cancer occurrence and liver metastasis","volume":"12","author":"Yu","year":"2021","journal-title":"mBio"},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15252\/msb.20145645","article-title":"Potential of fecal microbiota for early-stage detection of colorectal cancer","volume":"210","author":"Zeller","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mol Syst Biol"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2062","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2024-332815","article-title":"Stomach microbiota in gastric cancer development and clinical implications","volume":"73","author":"Zeng","year":"2024","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2022.830684","article-title":"Combined non-invasive prediction and new biomarkers of oral and fecal microbiota in patients with gastric and colorectal cancer","volume":"12","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12866-018-1232-6","article-title":"Changes in gut microbiota and plasma inflammatory factors across the stages of colorectal tumorigenesis: a case-control study","volume":"18","author":"Zhang","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Microbiol"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"803","DOI":"10.1007\/s00253-020-11043-7","article-title":"Gut microbiome analysis as a predictive marker for the gastric cancer patients","volume":"105","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2024.1406526","article-title":"Gut microbiome alterations during gastric cancer: evidence assessment of case-control studies","volume":"15","author":"Zhang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csbj.2023.11.053","article-title":"The influence of Helicobacter pylori, proton pump inhibitor, and obesity on the gastric microbiome in relation to gastric cancer development","volume":"23","author":"Zhou","year":"2024","journal-title":"Comput. Struct. Biotechnol. J."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1933","DOI":"10.1053\/j.gastro.2022.02.015","article-title":"Fecal signatures of streptococcus anginosus and streptococcus constellatus for noninvasive screening and early warning of gastric cancer","volume":"162","author":"Zhou","year":"2022","journal-title":"Gastroenterology"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1087","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2023-330168","article-title":"Compared to histamine-2 receptor antagonist, proton pump inhibitor induces stronger oral-to-gut microbial transmission and gut microbiome alterations: a randomised controlled trial","volume":"73","author":"Zhu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Gut"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1897107\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T04:49:01Z","timestamp":1789620541000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1897107\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"references-count":57,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1897107"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1897107","relation":{},"ISSN":["2235-2988"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2235-2988","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"article-number":"1897107"}}