Oral cancer patients may show different bacteria, viruses, and fungi in their saliva, suggesting an imbalance in the microbiota may aid in the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), according to the American Society for Microbiology.
Furthermore, OSCC may disrupt age- and gender-related saliva microbiome patterns, according to a press release dated January 28 from the society.
"This is an attractive area for developing potential early detection methods and investigating the role of oral microbes in the cancer progression," Zhenjiang Zech Xu, PhD, a microbiologist at Southern Medical University in China and senior author of the study, said in the release.
Previous studies have examined microbial changes linked to OSCC, but their findings have been inconsistent. Many have compared the saliva microbiome of healthy individuals to those with OSCC, revealing a potential connection between microbial shifts and oral cancer, according to the release.
For this study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 11 previous studies to identify microbial biomarkers in saliva associated with OSCC. OSCC samples showed an abundance of certain germs, including Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Prevotella.
Also, they discovered that OSCC disrupts microbial patterns typically linked to age and gender in healthy individuals. The analysis suggests that OSCC not only alters specific bacteria but affects host-microbiome interactions in the mouth, according to the release.
After identifying biomarkers, the team trained a machine-learning model on these microbial changes, which successfully predicted disease status. The model's accuracy improved as it was trained on more data.
Next, the group aims to validate these biomarkers, standardize sampling methods, and study demographic differences in OSCC-related microbiomes.
In the future, they plan to conduct a large-scale study to track microbiome changes in high-risk individuals over time, according to the release.
"They could help explain why OSCC risk and progression vary among different populations," Xu said.
