Charoenthanadhol Thanakorn, Phetcharaburanin Jutarop, Bubpamala Theerayut, Sookprasert Aumkhae, Chindaprasirt Jarin, Sanlung Thanachai, Watcharenwong Piyakarn, Putraveephong Siraphong, Wirasorn Kosin
Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40000, Thailand.
Department of Systems Biosciences and Computational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40000, Thailand.
Cancers (Basel). 2025 Sep 5;17(17):2915. doi: 10.3390/cancers17172915.
: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a major contributor to global cancer mortality. Increasing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota is a key modulator of liver disease progression and a promising source of non-invasive biomarkers. However, regional disparities in microbial profiles, influenced by ethnicity, diet, and environment, limit the generalizability of the existing data. This study aimed to characterize gut microbiota alterations in Thai patients with advanced untreated HCC compared to healthy individuals. : Fecal samples from 27 untreated Thai advanced HCC patients were collected, and data from 31 healthy individuals retrieved from a previous study were employed. Gut microbiota profiles were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. : Alpha diversity was significantly reduced in HCC patients ( < 0.001). At the phylum level, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were enriched in HCC, whereas Actinobacteria were more abundant in controls. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota levels were positively correlated with serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, whereas Firmicutes were negatively correlated with ALBI scores. : Thai patients with advanced HCC exhibited distinct gut microbial signatures, characterized by dysbiosis and expansion of Proteobacteria. These findings support the role of the gut microbiota as a potential non-invasive biomarker for disease severity and prognosis in HCC, underscoring the importance of population-specific microbial studies.
肝细胞癌（HCC）仍然是全球癌症死亡的主要原因。越来越多的证据表明，肠道微生物群是肝脏疾病进展的关键调节因子，也是有前景的非侵入性生物标志物来源。然而，受种族、饮食和环境影响，微生物谱的区域差异限制了现有数据的普遍性。本研究旨在描述未经治疗的晚期泰国HCC患者与健康个体相比肠道微生物群的变化。收集了27例未经治疗的晚期泰国HCC患者的粪便样本，并采用了先前一项研究中31名健康个体的数据。使用16S rRNA基因测序分析肠道微生物群谱。HCC患者的α多样性显著降低（<0.001）。在门水平上，变形菌门和厚壁菌门在HCC中富集，而放线菌门在对照组中更为丰富。变形菌门和拟杆菌门水平与血清甲胎蛋白（AFP）水平呈正相关，而厚壁菌门与ALBI评分呈负相关。未经治疗的晚期泰国HCC患者表现出独特的肠道微生物特征，其特征为菌群失调和变形菌门扩张。这些发现支持肠道微生物群作为HCC疾病严重程度和预后潜在非侵入性生物标志物的作用，强调了特定人群微生物研究的重要性。
