Gut eukaryotic virome in colorectal carcinogenesis: Is that a trigger?

The human gut microbiota is composed of bacteria and viruses that might be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) onset and progression. Indeed, although viral infections have been reported to be the primary trigger in many diseases, the role of eukaryotic viruses populating the gut mucosa during early colorectal carcinogenesis is underinvestigated. Human eukaryotic viruses in the gut were found to induce alterations of the immune homeostasis so that some viral-dependent mechanisms likely able to induce DNA alterations in the bowel wall have been proposed, although no demonstration is available yet. However, thanks to the latest advancements in computational biology and the implementation of the bioinformatic pipelines, the option of establishing a direct causative link between intestinal virome and CRC will be possible soon, hopefully paving the way to innovative therapeutic strategies blocking or reverting the CRC pathogenesis. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology.

Automated summary

The human gut microbiota, composed of bacteria and viruses, may play a role in the onset and progression of colorectal cancer. While the involvement of eukaryotic viruses in early colorectal carcinogenesis is underexplored, advancements in computational biology and bioinformatics offer the potential to establish a direct causative link between the intestinal virome and CRC, leading to innovative therapeutic strategies.