Gut Microbiome–Metabolite Interactions Contribute to Esophageal Cancer Risk: Evidence From Mendelian Randomization and Multiomics Integration
He Yang, Yi Liu, Tianyu Zhu, Zhihan Xiao, Hongya Wang, Shusheng Zhu, Yongbing Chen · 2026
Read Gut Microbiome–Metabolite Interactions Contribute to Esophageal Cancer Risk: Evidence From Mendelian Randomization and Multiomics Integration by He Yang, Yi Liu, Tianyu Zhu, Zhihan Xiao, Hongya Wang, Shusheng Zhu, Yongbing Chen (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13243870.txt.
Description
He Yang, Yi Liu, and Tianyu Zhu used genetic instruments to test whether gut microbes help cause esophageal cancer through blood metabolites. Their Mendelian randomization study appeared in the International Journal of Genomics in 2026. Observational links between the gut and this cancer are plentiful but cannot prove direction. Using gene variants tied to microbe and metabolite levels, the team probed cause and mediation for the cancer and its subtype.
Twenty-five gut taxa linked to esophageal cancer risk, eleven raising it and fourteen lowering it, with fifteen taxa tied to the adenocarcinoma subtype. A handful of blood metabolites also showed causal links in both directions. Mediation analysis found metabolites carrying part of the microbes' effect, completing a gut-metabolite-cancer chain. The authors offer the results as leads for biomarkers and for prevention aimed at the microbiome. Genetic evidence, they note, is a hint, not a clinical verdict.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | He Yang, Yi Liu, Tianyu Zhu, Zhihan Xiao, Hongya Wang, Shusheng Zhu, Yongbing Chen |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 36 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |