October 12, 2011

expert reaction to new research into pancreatic cancer and mouth bacteria, as published in Gut

Research drew a link between levels of oral bacteria and risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Dr Adam P. Roberts, Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology at the Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, said:

“There is increasing evidence in the literature that the microbiology of the oral cavity has systemic effects on human health. This study by Farrell and colleagues is very important as it is the first to show a link – although not necessarily a causal one – between the type of bacteria living in the mouth and pancreatic cancer.

“We cannot conclude that gum disease makes someone more likely to develop pancreatic cancer. But the possibility of being able to spit in a tube and screen this for certain bacteria and be able to predict cancers, and other systemic disease, is a really attractive proposition and would result in their early detection which is better for patients and would inevitably save lives.

“Finally, it should be noted that the sample sizes (just ten in each group) are very small in this experiment. This means it is impossible to say whether the test can actually predict cancer or not, as it is not clear whether the cancer develops because of the bacteria – or vice versa. But this is an interesting starting point. Now it is important to scale up this research with a much larger group of people and also see if the methodology has predictive value in the future.”

Prof William Wade, Professor of Oral Microbiology at King’s College London, said:

“This interesting study confirms previous studies showing the importance of the bacteria found in the mouth to diseases in other parts of the body. The analysis of this type of study can be challenging because the mouth is naturally home to over 700 species of bacteria. Because of the complexity of the oral bacterial community, apparent associations between particular species and disease can be observed by chance alone.

“Further work is needed to confirm these observations, but characterisation of patients’ oral bacteria may be a useful tool in the early detection of important diseases such as pancreatic cancer.”

Variations of oral microbiota are associated with pancreatic diseases including pancreatic cancer doi 10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300784 http://press.psprings.co.uk/gut/october/gut300784.pdf