Type of Mouth Bacteria 'Melts' Some Cancers, Study Finds

People with head and neck cancers are said to have better outcomes if fusobacterium is found with their cancer. The Guardian, July 27, 2024.
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Scientists have discovered that a common type of mouth bacteria can make certain cancers “melt”. Researchers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College London said they had been “brutally surprised” to find that fusobacterium – a type of bacteria commonly found in the mouth – appears to have the ability to kill certain cancers. People with head and neck cancers who were found to have this bacteria within their cancer have been found to have much better outcomes, according to a study.

Researchers are now looking into the exact biological mechanisms behind the link after the initial findings. Dr Miguel Reis Ferreira, the study’s senior author and a consultant in head and neck cancers at Guy’s and St Thomas’, told the PA news agency: “In essence, we found that when you find these bacteria within head and neck cancers, they have much better outcomes. The other thing that we found is that in cell cultures this bacterium is capable of killing cancer.

“What we’re finding is that this little bug is causing a better outcome based on something that it’s doing inside the cancer. So we are looking for that mechanism at present, and it should be the theme for a new paper in the very short-term future.” He added: “This research reveals that these bacteria play a more complex role than previously known in their relationship with cancer – that they essentially melt head and neck cancer cells. However, this finding should be balanced by their known role in making cancers such as those in the bowel get worse.”

Scientists used modelling to help identify which bacteria may be of interest to further investigate.

Then they studied the effect of the bacteria on cancerous cells in a laboratory and also performed an analysis of data on 155 patients with head and neck cancer whose tumour information had been submitted to the Cancer Genome Atlas database. Academics initially expected a different outcome as previous research has linked fusobacterium to the progression of bowel cancer. In the lab studies, researchers put quantities of the bacteria in petri dishes and left them for a couple of days. When they returned to inspect the effect of the bacteria on the cancer, they found that the cancer had almost disappeared.

They found there was a 70%-99% reduction in the number of viable cancer cells in head and neck cancer cells after being infected with fusobacterium...
https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/27/type-of-mouth-bacteria-melts-some-cancers-study-finds