Abstract
Oral cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the oral and maxillofacial region, of which more than 90% is squamous cell carcinoma. The incidence of oral cancer is on the rise worldwide. An imbalance between the microorganism composition and its host may lead to the occurrence of oral malignant tumors. Accumulating evidence suggests that the oral microbiota plays an important role in oral cancer; however, the association between oral microbiota and oral cancer has not yet been comprehensively studied. In this study, metagenomic sequencing was used to compare the microbial composition of three groups of samples from Chinese patients with oral cancer, patients with precancerous lesion, and normal individuals. In terms of microbiota richness, the oral microbiota of patients with precancerous lesions was richer than that of oral cancer patients and healthy controls, whereas in terms of microbiota diversity, there was little difference between the three groups. The three groups of samples exhibited statistically significant differences in microbiota composition and metabolic function at the family, genus, and species levels (P < 0.05). The differentially enriched phylum in oral cancer samples was Bacteroidetes (P < 0.05). At the genus level, the main differentially enriched taxa were Prevotella, Peptostreptococcus, Carnobacterium, and Diastella (P < 0.05). The species level was differentially enriched in Prevotella intermedia and Peptostreptococcus stomatis (p < 0.05). The prediction of microbiota function shows that oral cancer is mainly associated with coenzyme A biosynthesis, phosphopantothenic acid biosynthesis, inosine 5’-phosphate degradation, and riboflavin biosynthesis. Furthermore, the increase in C-reactive protein level in oral cancer patients was found to be closely related to P. intermedia. Overall, oral bacterial profiles showed significant differences between the oral cancer group and normal group. Hence, microbes can be employed as diagnostic markers and treatment targets for oral cancer.
Highlights
Yang et al (2018) showed that the oral bacterial microbiota was different between healthy participants and patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and that it changed during tumor progression
In terms of microbiota richness, we found that the oral microbiota of patients with precancerous lesions was richer compared with that of oral cancer patients and healthy controls; the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.81, P = 0.32)
By analyzing the correlation between the microbiota and inflammatory indexes in patients with oral cancer (Figure 7C), we found that P.intermedia was positively correlated with procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CPR), IL-6, and The neutrophil ratio (Nent), while S.mitis was negatively correlated with procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CPR), IL-6, The neutrophil ratio (Nent), and white blood cells (WBCs)
Summary
Oral cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the oral and maxillofacial region, and more than 90% of cases are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) (Tandon et al, 2017). EBV was determined to be associated with Burkitt lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (Allavena et al, 2008), an increased risk of gallbladder cancer was found to be associated with Salmonella typhi infection (Scanu et al, 2015), and HPV infection was linked to cervical cancer These findings provide reference and new research directions for the relationship between microorganisms and oral tumors. Schmidt et al (2014), using the 16SrDNA method, found that the abundance of Streptococcus and Actinomycetes in oral squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions was significantly reduced, whereas the abundance of Bacteroides was significantly increased, indicating that the change in oral microbiota occurred in the early stage of cancer and that cancer progressed along with the development of the tumor. Yang et al (2018) showed that the oral bacterial microbiota was different between healthy participants and patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and that it changed during tumor progression. Changes in the oral microbial community structure reveal that these microorganisms might have a pivotal role in the prevention and early diagnosis of oral cancer
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