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Oral microbiome and oral and gastrointestinal cancer risk

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Abstract

A growing body of evidence implicates human oral bacteria in the etiology of oral and gastrointestinal cancers. Epidemiological studies consistently report increased risks of these cancers in men and women with periodontal disease or tooth loss, conditions caused by oral bacteria. More than 700 bacterial species inhabit the oral cavity, including at least 11 bacterial phyla and 70 genera. Oral bacteria may activate alcohol and smoking-related carcinogens locally or act systemically, through chronic inflammation. High-throughput genetic-based assays now make it possible to comprehensively survey the human oral microbiome, the totality of bacteria in the oral cavity. Establishing the association of the oral microbiome with cancer risk may lead to significant advances in understanding of cancer etiology, potentially opening a new research paradigm for cancer prevention.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants R01 CA159036 and P30 CA016087 from National Cancer Institute.

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  1. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, 650 First Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Jiyoung Ahn, Calvin Y. Chen & Richard B. Hayes

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  1. Jiyoung Ahn
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  2. Calvin Y. Chen
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  3. Richard B. Hayes
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Correspondence to Jiyoung Ahn.

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Ahn, J., Chen, C.Y. & Hayes, R.B. Oral microbiome and oral and gastrointestinal cancer risk. Cancer Causes Control 23, 399–404 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9892-7

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