Discovery and characterization of Christensenella hongkongensis as a novel bacterium in the adenoma-carcinoma progression

Q: What is the study’s primary goal regarding Christensenella hongkongensis?

Identify fecal bacterial candidates associated with progression from adenoma to colorectal cancer and explore how Christensenella hongkongensis may contribute to carcinogenesis.

Q: How were candidate bacteria identified and validated in this research?

Metagenomic datasets were analyzed using MaAsLin2 to detect species enriched in CRC, followed by validation in a recruited cohort using duplex qPCR to measure abundance and associations across disease stages.

Q: What diagnostic performance did the study report for Christensenella hongkongensis?

Christensenella hongkongensis distinguished advanced adenoma from non-advanced adenoma with an ROC AUC of 0.60, and combining it with FIT improved diagnostic performance, increasing AUCs for multiple comparisons.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by Sophia Brooks

Colorectal cancer commonly develops from precursor adenoma stages, yet fecal microbial biomarkers linking adenoma to carcinoma progression remain insufficient. This study analyzed publicly available metagenomic datasets with MaAsLin2 to find fecal bacterial species enriched in colorectal cancer versus healthy controls, then validated candidates in a mainland China cohort of 686 subjects. Duplex qPCR, ROC evaluation, and combined models with FIT assessed diagnostic value across CRC stages, and in vitro plus transcriptome experiments clarified functional mechanisms. Results highlight Christensenella hongkongensis as progressively increased and mechanistically linked to Wnt/β-catenin activation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Conclusions

Zhang et al. Journal of Translational Medicine (2026) 24:468 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-026-07886-9](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-026-07886-9) Journal of Translational Medicine RESEARCH Open Access Discovery and characterization of Christensenella hongkongensis as a novel bacterium in the adenoma-carcinoma progression Wenqing Zhang 1,2, Qi Su 1,2, Haiyun Shi3, Yang Sun4, Xiaobo Li5, Mengbin Li6, Hui Wang7, Jun Yu2,8, Nathalie Wong9, Francis Ka Leung Chan 1,8,10, Jingwan Zhang 1,2,8* and Siew Chien Ng 1,2,8,11* Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide and commonly starts from a pre-cancerous stage. This study aimed to identify potential fecal bacterial candidates associated with progression of CRC from the adenoma-carcinoma sequence and to explore underlying mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Methods Publicly metagenomic datasets were analyzed using MaAsLin2 to identify bacterial species enriched in CRC patients compared to healthy controls. Additionally, we established a large cohort in mainland China, consisting of 686 subjects, including 285 CRC patients, 73 advanced adenoma patients (AA), 134 non-advanced adenoma patients (nAA), and 194 healthy controls (NC) . Fecal samples from this cohort were analyzed by duplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to validate the abundance of key bacterial candidate and its association with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of Christensenella hongkongensis (C. hongkongensis) alone and in combination with fecal immunochemical test (FIT) across different CRC stages. In vitro experiments and transcriptome sequencing were performed to explore the effects of C. hongkongensis and its mechanisms in CRC progression. Results MaAsLin2 analysis identified seven bacterial species were significantly more abundant in fecal samples of CRC patients than in healthy controls (p < 0. 05) . Among them, C. hongkongensis, an obligately anaerobic, catalasepositive, motile, non-sporulating, gram-positive coccobacillus was distinguished by its lowest abundance in healthy control s and significant enrichment in CRC patients. Validation in our recruited cohort showed that the abundance of C. hongkongensis progressively increased from non-advanced adenomas to advanced adenomas and CRC. For classifying AA from nAA, C. hongkongensis yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.60 (95% CI 0.53–0. 68), with 45. 2% sensitivity and 85. 8% specificity. A combined model integrating C. hongkongensis abundance and FIT further *Correspondence: Jingwan Zhang [wendyjwzhang@cuhk.edu.hk](wendyjwzhang@cuhk.edu.hk)[ ](wendyjwzhang@cuhk.edu.hk)Siew Chien Ng [siewchienng@cuhk.edu.hk](siewchienng@cuhk.edu.hk) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by/4.0/. Zhang et al. Journal of Translational Medicine (2026) 24:468 Page 2 of 19 improved diagnostic performance, increasing AUCs from 0.77 to 0.81 for AA vs NC (p < 0. 05)

FAQs

What is the study’s primary goal regarding Christensenella hongkongensis?

Identify fecal bacterial candidates associated with progression from adenoma to colorectal cancer and explore how Christensenella hongkongensis may contribute to carcinogenesis.

How were candidate bacteria identified and validated in this research?

Metagenomic datasets were analyzed using MaAsLin2 to detect species enriched in CRC, followed by validation in a recruited cohort using duplex qPCR to measure abundance and associations across disease stages.

What diagnostic performance did the study report for Christensenella hongkongensis?

Christensenella hongkongensis distinguished advanced adenoma from non-advanced adenoma with an ROC AUC of 0.60, and combining it with FIT improved diagnostic performance, increasing AUCs for multiple comparisons.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by Sophia Brooks