A Plausible Proposition of CCL20-Related Mechanism in Fusobacterium nucleatum-Associated Oral Carcinogenesis.

Devi Prasad Mandal,Darshan Devang Divakar,Swagatika Panda,Paresh Kumar Behera,Neeta Mohanty,Abdulaziz A Al-Kheraif,Sukumaran Anil,Divya Gopinath,Sasmita Panda

doi:10.3390/life11111218

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this prospective observational case–control study is to evaluate the prevalence of Fusobacterium nucleatum in the tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Reconnoitering the CCL20-related mechanism of carcinogenesis in Fusobacterium nucleatum-positive OSCC is another objective. Methodology: Tissues from 50 OSCC patients and 30 healthy oral tissues were collected. The prevalence of Fusobacterium nucleatum was evaluated in both tumour and healthy tissue by polymerase chain reaction. The immunohistochemistry of OSCC tissues was conducted to evaluate the difference in the expression of CCL20 between Fusobacterium nucleatum-positive and -negative OSCC tissues. Results: Fusobacterium nucleatum was significantly (p < 0.001) prevalent in OSCC tissues (74%), compared to healthy tissues (26%). No association of Fusobacterium nucleatum or CCL20 immuno-expression with any clinical or histopathological features of OSCC was observed. While the intensity of CCL20 immuno-expression did not differ (p = 0.053), the CCL20-positive cell population was significantly different (p = 0.034) between Fusobacterium nucleatum-positive and -negative OSCC. Conclusion: Fusobacterium nucleatum is possibly prevalent in oral cancer tissues in the Indian population. By using immunohistochemistry, this is the first study to propose that the carcinogenesis in Fusobacterium nucleatum-positive OSCC may be CCL20-related. The findings enrich the knowledge of mechanisms involved in Fusobacterium nucleatum-mediated oral carcinogenesis.

Highlights

Malignant neoplasms that develop on the lips, mouth, nose and other head and neck sites are termed as head and neck cancers; the majority of this group is represented by oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) [1]
The distribution according to socio-economic status (SES) showed that the majority belonged to the middle SES (80%)
This study reveals a significant difference in the prevalence of CCL20-positive cell population in Fusobacterium nucleatum-positive tissues, compared to Fusobacterium nucleatum-negative tissues (p = 0.034)

Summary

Introduction

Malignant neoplasms that develop on the lips, mouth, nose and other head and neck sites are termed as head and neck cancers; the majority of this group is represented by oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) [1]. Multiple studies have evaluated the role of bacteria in the cancer of several organs [5,6,7,8]. Owing to the presence of complex multispecies bacterial communities in the oral cavity, the hypothesis of bacteria causing oral carcinogenesis was postulated by Nagy et al [9] and was later established by multiple studies [10,11,12,13]. The understanding of the interactions of the oral bacteria with OSCC has further evolved due to modern sequencing technologies. Brennan et al [19]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion