BUFFALO, NY- August 19, 2024 – A new #review was #published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on August 14, 2024, entitled, “The gut barrier as a gatekeeper in colorectal cancer treatment.” Colorectal cancer (CRC) is highly prevalent and a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The primary curative treatment for CRC is surgical resection of the affected bowel segment. However, postoperative complications often include a weakened gut barrier and the dissemination of bacterial proinflammatory lipopolysaccharides. Researchers Roy Hajjar, Carole Richard, and Manuela M. Santos from Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Québec; Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), Québec; Université de Montréal, Québec; and Institut du cancer de Montréal, Québec, discuss how gut microbiota and microbial metabolites regulate basal inflammation levels in the gut and the healing process of the bowel after surgery. “We and others have shown in the last few years that gut microbiota influences the healing process of the bowel and the restoration of the gut barrier after surgery.” The researchers further elaborate on the restoration of gut barrier function in CRC patients and how this potentially impacts the dissemination and implantation of CRC cells in extracolonic tissues, thereby contributing to worse survival outcomes after surgery. “Based on our recent work, we believe that weakened gut barrier function, namely due to poor healing after surgery, leads to persistent systemic low-grade inflammation and a higher risk of local and systemic cancer recurrence.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28634 Correspondence to - Roy Hajjar - roy.hajjar@umontreal.ca Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgWx_11K6Kw Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28634 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Oncotarget - https://www.oncotarget.com/subscribe/ Keywords - cancer, colorectal cancer, gut microbiome, gut barrier, colorectal surgery, anastomotic leak About Oncotarget Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science. Oncotarget is indexed and archived by PubMed/Medline, PubMed Central, Scopus, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science). To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ X - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@OncotargetJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0gRwT6BqYWJzxzmjPJwtVh MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM