Variety of Fruit and Vegetables and Alcohol Intake are Associated with Gut Microbial Species and Gene Abundance in Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Associations between the Gut Microbiota, Race, and Ethnicity of Patients with Colorectal Cancer: A Pilot and Feasibility Study

“…Specifically, we found that the Fusobacteriota phylum was more highly abundant in Black/African American individuals, which could contribute to increased CRC development and progression in this group [ 14 , 16 , 17 , 38 ]. Interestingly, we also found that prior ileostomy was associated with differences in microbial community structure, in line with prior results from a study of colorectal cancer survivors [ 36 ]. Although race and ethnicity-associated differences in the gut microbiome could not be explained by measured treatment, socioeconomic, or dietary covariates, future studies may help untangle the nuances of how treatment and diet impact the microbiota of cancer patients by combining a higher sample size with measurement of detailed surgical history and dietary intake, among other covariates.…”

“…Beta diversity was analyzed using the Bray–Curtis metric. For association analysis, education was binned into yes/no post-secondary degree (including Associate’s, Trade/Vocational, Bachelor’s, and Doctoral) and diet-related variables were quantitated as described previously [ 36 ], with American Cancer Society (ACS) diet sub-scores used to score the intake of whole grains, fruit/vegetables, meat, alcohol, and BMI. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test associations between covariates and Shannon alpha diversity.…”