| The gut microbiota is the largest and most complex microbial community in the human body, which is closely related to human health and disease. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract, which is influenced by various factors, among which the gut microbiota and its metabolites are important modulators. The gut microbiota and its metabolites can interact with CRC cells by affecting the host’s immune system, metabolic pathways, epigenetics, and signaling pathways, and promote or inhibit the occurrence and development of CRC. Therefore, the gut microbiota and its metabolites can serve as biomarkers for CRC, which can be used for CRC screening, diagnosis, staging, prognosis assessment, and treatment response monitoring. This review summarizes the currently discovered gut microbiota and its metabolites related to CRC, as well as their detection methods and clinical applications, evaluates the significance and advantages of CRC biomarkers based on gut microbiota and its metabolites, points out the existing problems and challenges in the current research, and prospects the future development directions. |
