PLoS Pathog: Oral microbes cause cancer.

OCT 3, 2020 /---Yvonne Kapila of the University of California, San Francisco, and others have shown in a study published October 1 in the journal PLOS Pathogen that pathogens found in tissue around teeth can lead to highly invasive oral cancer.
addition, studies have shown that the formation of pathogen-mediated oral cancer is inhibited by bacterial metabolites, antimicrobial and probiotic peptides produced by a bacterium.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world.
squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a subtype of HNSCC, accounting for 90% of all oral malignancies, and its five-year survival rate is very low.
factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and human papillomavirus infection are not sufficient to explain the rate and aggression of OSCC.
other factors, such as oral pathogens, may play an important role in the occurrence, development and metastasis of OSCC tumors, but this has not been studied in depth.
, the authors tested whether OSCC was affected by periodontogens.
they found that three types of periodontogens (gum monocytobacteria, toothed dense helix and Kercobacteria) enhanced OSCC cell migration, invasion and tumor formation in mouse models.
these effects are mediated by the interaction between two signaling paths: the whole protein/FAK and TLR/MyDD88.
lactic acid bacteria (a bacterial metabolite, commonly used food preservatives) can inhibit the pathogen-mediated process.
the study provides the first direct evidence that bacterial metabolites inhibit the formation of oral cancer mediated by periodontogens, the authors said.
addition, the results show that lactobacillus peptides have a wide range of therapeutic potential as antimicrobials and anticancer agents, as well as as as inhibitors for disease-mediated cancer formation.
the authors conclude: "Because probiotic lactobacillus peptides inhibit pathogen-mediated carcinogenic effects, these findings can promote the treatment of oral cancer and establish a new type of cancer treatment based on antimicrobial drugs."
.com Source: Pathogens in the mouth induce oral cancer Original source: Kamarajan P, Ateia I, Shin JM, Fenno JC, Le C, Zhan L, et al. (2020) Periodontal pathogens promote cancer aggressivity via TLR/MyD88 triggered activation of the integrin/FAK signaling that isally reversible by a probiotic bacteriocin. PLoS Pathog 16 (10): e1008881. doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008881.