Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30855275›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2019

Human colon mucosal biofilms from healthy or colon cancer hosts are carcinogenic.

Sarah Tomkovich, Christine M Dejea, Kathryn Winglee, Julia L Drewes, Liam Chung, Franck Housseau, Jillian L Pope, Josee Gauthier, Xiaolun Sun, Marcus Mühlbauer and 16 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 126 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
126citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
9.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

126 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 211 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Enteric populations ofmSphere · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Open forum infectious diseases · 2026
    Article
  8. Review
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  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Observational
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Intestinal dysbiosis and colorectal cancer.Chinese medical journal · 2025
    Review
  19. Review
  20. Review

66 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

26 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Sarah TomkovichDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Christine M DejeaBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Kathryn WingleeDepartment of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Julia L DrewesBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Liam ChungBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Franck HousseauBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Jillian L PopeDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Josee GauthierDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Xiaolun SunDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Marcus MühlbauerDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Xiuli LiuDepartment of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Payam FathiBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Robert A AndersDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Sepideh BesharatiDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Ernesto Perez-ChanonaDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Ye YangDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Hua DingBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Xinqun WuBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Shaoguang WuBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
James R WhiteResphera Biosciences, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Raad Z GharaibehDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Anthony A FodorDepartment of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Hao WangBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Drew M PardollBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Christian JobinDepartment of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Cynthia L SearsBloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Departments of Oncology and Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Johns Hopkins University · USUniversity of Florida · USUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte · USResphera Biosciences · US

Funding

Translational Research Central ServicesP30CA006973 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Rosalie Wollett · 1985 to 2026
$208.6M
Tumor Antigens for Individual Signatures and TherapyP50CA062924 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI LENNON, ANNE MARIE · 1993 to 2022
$54.6M
Translational Research Enhancement CoreP30DK089502 · NIDDK · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI ZACHOS, NICHOLAS CONSTANTINE · 2011 to 2020
$12.0M
The role of klebsiella pneumonia-derived colibactin in colitis-associated colon cancerR01DK073338 · NIDDK · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI JOBIN, CHRISTIAN · 2007 to 2023
$5.4M
Biofilm Epidemiology and Mechanisms in Colon CancerR01CA196845 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI GIARDIELLO, FRANCIS M, SEARS, CYNTHIA · 2016 to 2020
$4.3M
REGULATION OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE MOLECULES IN IBDR01DK047700 · NIDDK · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI JOBIN, CHRISTIAN · 1993 to 2014
$3.2M
Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis: A bacterial promoter of colon oncogenesisR01CA151393 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI PARDOLL, DREW M., SEARS, CYNTHIA · 2010 to 2014
$2.7M
Correlates of antitumor immunity in colorectal cancers and anti PD1 therapyR01CA203891 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI HOUSSEAU, FRANCK · 2016 to 2020
$1.9M
Zeiss LSM780 Confocal Microscope for a Core FacilityS10OD016374 · OD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI KUO, SCOT CHARLES · 2013 to 2013
$584k
Mechanism by which H2S-producing bacteria influence development of colorectal cancerR21CA195226 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI JOBIN, CHRISTIAN · 2016 to 2017
$367k
Characterization of microbial and host requirements for colonic biofilm assembly and biofilm-mediated colon tumorigenesisK99CA230192 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI DREWES, JULIA L · 2018 to 2019
$179k
NCI NIH HHS K99 CA230192NCI NIH HHS P30 CA006973NCI NIH HHS P50 CA062924NCI NIH HHS R01 CA151393NCI NIH HHS R01 CA196845NCI NIH HHS R01 CA203891NCI NIH HHS R21 CA195226NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK089502NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK047700NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK073338NIH HHS S10 OD016374
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mucus-invasive bacterial biofilms are identified on the colon mucosa of approximately 50% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and approximately 13% of healthy subjects. Here, we test the hypothesis that human colon biofilms comprise microbial communities that are carcinogenic in CRC mouse models. Homogenates of human biofilm-positive colon mucosa were prepared from tumor patients (tumor and paired normal tissues from surgical resections) or biofilm-positive biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy; homogenates of biofilm-negative colon biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy served as controls. After 12 weeks, biofilm-positive, but not biofilm-negative, human colon mucosal homogenates induced colon tumor formation in 3 mouse colon tumor models (germ-free ApcMinΔ850/+;Il10-/- or ApcMinΔ850/+ and specific pathogen-free ApcMinΔ716/+ mice). Remarkably, biofilm-positive communities from healthy colonoscopy biopsies induced colon inflammation and tumors similarly to biofilm-positive tumor tissues. By 1 week, biofilm-positive human tumor homogenates, but not healthy biopsies, displayed consistent bacterial mucus invasion and biofilm formation in mouse colons. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and RNA-Seq analyses identified compositional and functional microbiota differences between mice colonized with biofilm-positive and biofilm-negative communities. These results suggest human colon mucosal biofilms, whether from tumor hosts or healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy, are carcinogenic in murine models of CRC.

Indexed as

BiofilmsCarcinogenesisGastrointestinal MicrobiomeAnimalsColonColonic NeoplasmsHumansMiceMice, KnockoutNeoplasms, ExperimentalBacterial infectionsColorectal cancerMicrobiologyMouse modelsOncology

Identifiers

PMID30855275
PMCPMC6436866
OpenAlexW2921953499

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.