From Mucosal Inflammation to Malignancy: Deciphering the Microbiome at the Crossroads of IBD and Colorectal Cancer
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Michael Scharl, from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, will join 13th Worls Congress on Targeting Microbiota - ISM 2026 as a speaker.
Introduction: The microbiome has been well documented to play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatoiry and malignant diseases. Particularly in intestinal diseases, namely inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC), the impact of the microbiome has been demonstrated and recent developments aim to target the microbiome as therapeutic approach.
Material & Methods: This presentation will provide an overview about the role of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of IBD and CRC as well as in modulating immune cell repsonses to foster the transition from chronic inflammatory to malignant disease. Further, the talk will elucidate how the microbiome can be utilized to treat such diseases.
Results: Current knowledge has identified distinct bacterial species as drivers of IBD pathogenesis by modulating mucus layer and barrier integrity as well as by enhancing proinflammatory activity of intestinal immune cells. Similar, certain species directly impact on intestinal epithelial cells or produce toxins to render those cells into cancer cells. While in CRC more and more studies particularly focus on the spatial distribution of the microbiome and specfic bacterial species in the tumor tissue, such data are rare in IBD. However, to understand the functional impact of the localisation of distinct bacteria within the tissue and their interactionwith intestinal epithelial/cancer cells and/or imune cells might by key to obtain a more profound understanding of the complex interplay between the microbiome and the host. Such improved understanding will also be key to develop microbiome therapies for diseases, such as IBD or CRC. While fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) is effective in subroups of patients, the reational design of defined live biotherapeutic products might be key to finally establish efficacy of microbiome therapies in distinct patient subgroups as well as in the clincial routine.
Conclusion: The mcirobiome has been demonstrated to play a key role for IBD and CRC pathogenesis. An improved understanding of microbiome-host interactions will be key to develop effective microbiome therapies for daily clinical practice.
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