{"id":40241,"date":"2025-09-24T07:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/40241\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T07:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:41:09","slug":"link-between-the-oral-microbiome-and-pancreatic-cancer-uncovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/40241\/","title":{"rendered":"Link between the oral microbiome and pancreatic cancer uncovered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original story from NYU Langone Health<\/a><\/p>\n

Among the hundreds of species of bacteria and fungi that live in people\u2019s mouths, 27 have been collectively tied to a 3.5 times greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer, a study led by NYU Langone Health and its\u00a0Perlmutter Cancer Center<\/a>\u00a0shows.<\/p>\n

Experts have long observed that those with poor oral health are more vulnerable to pancreatic cancer than those with healthier mouths. More recently, scientists have uncovered a mechanism that could help explain this connection, finding that bacteria can travel through swallowed saliva into the pancreas, an organ that helps with digestion. However, precisely which species may contribute to the condition had until now remained unclear.<\/p>\n

Published recently in JAMA Oncology<\/a>, the new analysis assessed the genetic makeup of microbes collected from the saliva of 122,000 healthy men and women.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings provide new insight into the relationship between the oral microbiome and pancreatic cancer,\u201d said study lead author Yixuan Meng, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the\u00a0Department of Population Health<\/a>\u00a0at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

The oral microbiome, the diverse community of bacteria and fungi that inhabit the mouth, is increasingly being studied for its potential role in human health.<\/p>\n

Last year, the same team of scientists uncovered a link between certain oral bacteria and a heightened risk of developing\u00a0head and neck squamous cell carcinoma<\/a>, a group of cancers that arise in the mouth and throat. The researchers had also conducted a small study in 2016 that tied microbes living in the mouth to pancreatic cancer, but could not identify precise bacterial species.<\/p>\n

Their latest report is the largest and most detailed analysis of its kind to date, says Dr. Meng. It is also the first to show that oral fungi\u2014namely a type of yeast in the genus\u00a0Candida\u00a0that naturally lives on the skin and throughout the body\u2014may play a role in pancreatic cancer. The researchers also identified these oral\u00a0Candida\u00a0species in patients\u2019 pancreatic tumors.<\/p>\n

For the study, the team assessed data from two ongoing investigations tracking Americans from across the country to better understand how diet, lifestyle, medical history, and many other factors are involved in cancer. The data were gathered for the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.<\/p>\n

Shortly after enrolling, participants rinsed with mouthwash, providing saliva samples that preserved the numbers and species of microbes for testing. Researchers then followed up for roughly nine years on average to record any presence of tumors.<\/p>\n

In the current study, the investigators analyzed bacterial and fungal DNA from the spit samples. Then, they identified 445 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and compared the DNA of their microbes with that of another 445 randomly selected study subjects who had remained cancer-free. The team made sure to account for factors known to play a role in developing the condition, such as age, race, and how often subjects smoked cigarettes.<\/p>\n

The findings identified 24 species of bacteria and fungi that individually either raised or lowered pancreatic cancer risk. Another three kinds of bacteria tied to the cancer were already known to contribute to periodontal disease, a serious gum infection that can eat away at the jawbone and the soft tissues surrounding teeth.<\/p>\n

Altogether, the entire group of microbes boosted participants\u2019 chances of developing the cancer by more than threefold.<\/p>\n

In addition, by assessing the makeup of each participant\u2019s oral microbiome, the scientists for the first time developed a tool that could estimate their cancer risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy profiling bacterial and fungal populations in the mouth, oncologists may be able to flag those most in need of pancreatic cancer screening,\u201d said study co-senior author\u00a0Jiyoung Ahn, PhD<\/a>, a professor in the Departments of Population Health and\u00a0Medicine\u00a0<\/a>at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ahn, who is also the associate director for population sciences at Perlmutter Cancer Center, notes that there are currently few effective screening methods for the disease, which is among the deadliest forms of cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clearer than ever that brushing and flossing your teeth may not only help prevent periodontal disease but may also protect against cancer,\u201d said study co-senior author\u00a0Richard Hayes, DDS, MPH, PhD<\/a>, a professor in the Department of Population Health.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hayes, who is also a member of Perlmutter Cancer Center, emphasizes that the study was designed to identify correlations between disease risk and certain microbes in the mouth, but not to establish a direct cause-and-effect link. That will require further investigation.<\/p>\n

The research team next plans to explore whether oral viruses could contribute to cancer and how the mouth\u2019s microbiome may affect patients\u2019 chances of survival, adds Hayes.<\/p>\n

Funding for the study was provided by National Institutes of Health grants P30CA016087, P20CA252728, R01LM014085, R01CA159036, and U01CA250186.<\/p>\n

This article has been republished from the\u00a0following\u00a0materials<\/a>.\u00a0Material may have been edited for length and house style. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Original story from NYU Langone Health Among the hundreds of species of bacteria and fungi that live in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60,2166,30550],"class_list":["post-40241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-microbiome","tag-oral-microbiome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}