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Volume 41 Issue 4
August 2026
    Citation: Yi Zhou, Qing Guo, Xingyue Zhao, Wei Zhang, Han Zhang, Shiyin Huang, Zihan He, Youhua Xie, Wen Zhang, Jinhua Gu, Shaokun Pan, Wang Li. Blood and gut virome remodeling in gastric cancer: Anellovirus expansion and novel virus discovery .VIROLOGICA SINICA, 2026, 41(4) : 791-805.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.010
    shu

    Blood and gut virome remodeling in gastric cancer: Anellovirus expansion and novel virus discovery

    • a. The Affiliated Taizhou People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Taizhou 225300, China;

    • b. Shanghai Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microbes and Infection, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 20032, China;

    • c. Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230031, China;

    • d. Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China

    • Gastric cancer (GC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, yet effective early diagnostic tools remain lacking, and the role of the virome, a key component of the tumor microenvironment, in GC progression is largely unknown. This study aimed to characterize the virome landscapes in peripheral blood and feces of GC patients versus healthy controls, and to identify viral signatures associated with GC onset and metastasis. We performed viral metagenomic sequencing on pooled libraries from 100 GC patients (45 non-metastatic, 55 metastatic) and 50 healthy controls, followed by taxonomic annotation, diversity assessment, LEfSe differential abundance testing, and co-occurrence network analysis. In blood, the GC virome shifted from a bacteriophage-dominated profile in controls to one overwhelmingly dominated by Anelloviridae (> 80%), with significantly decreased alpha diversity. In contrast, the gut virome of GC patients showed increased alpha diversity and coexistence of diverse bacteriophages. LEfSe identified betatorquevirus in blood as a key discriminatory taxon for GC. Network analysis revealed negative correlations between Anelloviridae and multiple bacteriophage families, suggesting niche competition. We also discovered 67 provisional novel anellovirus species and one novel gemykibivirus in GC patient blood. Collectively, our findings indicate that GC is associated with compartment-specific virome remodeling in blood and gut, and that expansion of blood anelloviruses holds promise as a non-invasive biomarker. This study provides a foundational resource for understanding the virome's role in GC.
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      Blood and gut virome remodeling in gastric cancer: Anellovirus expansion and novel virus discovery

        Corresponding author: Jinhua Gu, tzsrmyy@126.com
        Corresponding author: Shaokun Pan, skpan@fudan.edu.cn
        Corresponding author: Wang Li, liwang20091221@126.com
      • a. The Affiliated Taizhou People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Taizhou 225300, China;
      • b. Shanghai Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microbes and Infection, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 20032, China;
      • c. Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230031, China;
      • d. Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
      • Received Date: 13 April 2026
      • Accepted Date: 10 August 2026

      Abstract: Gastric cancer (GC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, yet effective early diagnostic tools remain lacking, and the role of the virome, a key component of the tumor microenvironment, in GC progression is largely unknown. This study aimed to characterize the virome landscapes in peripheral blood and feces of GC patients versus healthy controls, and to identify viral signatures associated with GC onset and metastasis. We performed viral metagenomic sequencing on pooled libraries from 100 GC patients (45 non-metastatic, 55 metastatic) and 50 healthy controls, followed by taxonomic annotation, diversity assessment, LEfSe differential abundance testing, and co-occurrence network analysis. In blood, the GC virome shifted from a bacteriophage-dominated profile in controls to one overwhelmingly dominated by Anelloviridae (> 80%), with significantly decreased alpha diversity. In contrast, the gut virome of GC patients showed increased alpha diversity and coexistence of diverse bacteriophages. LEfSe identified betatorquevirus in blood as a key discriminatory taxon for GC. Network analysis revealed negative correlations between Anelloviridae and multiple bacteriophage families, suggesting niche competition. We also discovered 67 provisional novel anellovirus species and one novel gemykibivirus in GC patient blood. Collectively, our findings indicate that GC is associated with compartment-specific virome remodeling in blood and gut, and that expansion of blood anelloviruses holds promise as a non-invasive biomarker. This study provides a foundational resource for understanding the virome's role in GC.

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