Researchers Discover Common Oral Bacteria That May “Melt Away” Certain Types of Cancer
Scientists from King’s College London have stated they were “extremely surprised” to find that fusobacterium—a bacterium commonly found in the human oral cavity—appears to have the ability to kill certain types of cancer.
According to the study, patients with head and neck cancer who harbored this type of bacteria had significantly better treatment outcomes.
Fusobacterium in the oral cavity appears to have the ability to kill certain types of cancer. (Illustrative image: Alamy).
The researchers are currently investigating the exact biological mechanisms behind this connection. Miguel Reis Ferreira, the study’s author, shared with the media: “Essentially, we see that when you find these types of bacteria in head and neck cancer patients, they have much better treatment outcomes. Another thing we discovered is that in cell cultures, this bacteria has the ability to kill tumors.“
He added: “The study shows that these bacteria play a more complex role than previously known in their relationship with cancer. Essentially, they melt away head and neck cancer cells. However, this finding needs to be balanced with their known role in worsening other types of cancer, such as bowel cancer.”
Scientists have been working to identify which specific bacteria may require further research. They then studied the impact of the bacteria on cancer cells in the laboratory and also performed data analysis on 155 head and neck cancer patients whose tumor information was submitted to the U.S. government’s Cancer Gene Map database.
In laboratory studies, scientists exposed a quantity of fusobacterium to a Petri dish. After a few days, when they returned to check the impact of the bacteria on cancer, they found that the tumors had almost disappeared. Meanwhile, they had initially expected different results, as previous research had linked fusobacterium to the progression of bowel cancer.
Data analysis showed that patients with fusobacterium had a higher survival rate than others. Fusobacterium helps reduce mortality by up to 65%. Researchers hope this discovery could guide treatment for head and neck cancer patients, including those with oral, throat, laryngeal, nasal, and sinus cancers.
Experts noted that in the past 20 years, there has been very little progress in head and neck cancer treatment, so they hope this discovery could lead to new treatment methods in the future.
Anjali Chander from King’s College London, who participated in the study, stated: “Our findings are truly remarkable and surprising. We had a wonderful moment discovering that international colleagues also found authentic data confirming this discovery.”
