Two types of bacteria in your mouth are linked to an increased risk and two types are linked to a decreased risk of oesophageal cancer (oesophageal cancer), according to research led by Professor Jiyoung Ahn at NYU Langone Health's Perimutter Cancer Center.
At least two kinds of bacteria in the microbiome of your mouth may increase your risk of oesophageal cancer and two kinds may reduce risk.
The cancer starts in the cells of the oesophagus. There are two types of cell and because of this there are two types of oesophageal cancer - squamous and adenocarcinoma. Although there has been a long held view that different bacteria in the mouth were linked to oesophageal cancer, this was the first study of its kind to try to discover which bacteria.
Oral wash bacteria were taken from the oral microbiota of 122,000 people across a ten year period in two national studies. Professor Ahn's team found that adenocarcinoma (Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, or EAC) was tied most closely with the presence of Tannerella forsythia and that there was a 21% increased risk of oesophageal cancer.
On the other hand the incidence of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) was linked to an 'abundance' of Porphyromonas gingivalis.
However, two other bacteria were linked to lower risk of oesophageal cancer; these were Streptococcus and Neisseria - the latter being known to break down harmful substances found in tobacco by-products. It is found in greater quantities in the oral microbiota of non-smokers. The presence of these bacteria in good numbers reduced risk by 24%.
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Chris Woollams, former Oxford University biochemist and founder of CANCERactive said that “TYet again we are seeing the importance of oral health. We also know that pathogens in the oral microbiota are linked to liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.”
The research was a super-analysis of two large studies involving 120,000 people across ten years, and it analysed some 300 different bacteria found in the mouth.
Senior investigator in the study Professor Jiyoung Ahn, PhD felt that analysing the microbiome diiferences between healthy and ‘at risk’ people might be the first step to early detection of a cancer notoriously often diagnosed in later stages.
References
1, Published online in December 1st 2017 Cancer Research