Presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis in gingival squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Periodontal disease has been recently linked to a variety of systemic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, preterm delivery, and oral cancer. The most common bacteria associated with periodontal disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) has not yet been studied in the malignant gingival tissues. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of P. gingivalis in specimens from squamous cell carcinoma patients. We have performed immunohistochemical staining to investigate the presence of P. gingivalis and Streptococcus gordonii (S. gordonii), a non invasive oral bacteria, in paraffin embedded samples of gingival squamous cell carcinoma (n=10) and normal gingiva (n=5). Staining for P. gingivalis revealed the presence of the bacteria in normal gingival tissues and gingival carcinoma, with higher levels (more than 33%, P<0.05) detected in the carcinoma samples. The staining intensity was also significantly enhanced in the malignant tissue by 2 folds (P<0.023) compared to specimens stained for the non-invasive S. gordonii. P. gingivalis is abundantly present in malignant oral epithelium suggesting a potential association of the bacteria with gingival squamous cell carcinoma.

Noncanonical Activation of β-Catenin by Porphyromonas gingivalis

“…P. gingivalis is a dysbiotic organism that is becoming increasingly associated with cancer, pancreatic cancer and OSCC in particular (18,19). P. gingivalis can be recovered from OSCC surfaces in significantly higher numbers than from contiguous healthy mucosa (72) and detected by immunohistochemistry in gingival carcinomas (73). Hence, the results of the present study suggest that noncanonical activation of ␤-catenin signaling by P. gingivalis may be a potential mechanism by which P. gingivalis could contribute to tumorigenesis.…”

The prevalence rate of Porphyromonas gingivalis and its association with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…They reported that P. gingivalis may cause mouth cancer and showed that P. gingivalis induced the alteration of epithelial cells to neoplastic forms and its concentration rate was higher among cancer cells than normal tissues of mouth. 20 According to Kang et al's study, there was a significant difference between the group of head and neck cancer patients and group of healthy individuals for the frequency of P. gingivalis. Contrary to our results, Kang et al's study revealed a higher prevalence of P. gingivalis among healthy individuals than cancer patients (Figure 3).…”

The Relationship Between Periodontal Disease and Neoplasms of the Oral Cavity: A Review Article

“…Microorganisms and their products stimulate neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes and fibroblasts to produce reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide and free oxygen radicals), reactive nitrogen species (nitric oxide), lipids and matrix metalloproteinase which finally leads to DNA damage in epithelial cells (1,47,48). Cytokines, growth factors and some other cellular mediators create an appropriate environment for cell proliferation and migration.…”

“…6-There is increasing evidence that Porphyromonas gingivalis are periodontal pathogens that exist within the specimens of squamous cell carcinoma (40,48). Porphyromonas gingivalis are important etiologic factors in periodontal disease found in a great number in the oral cavity of patients with poor oral hygiene or severe periodontitis (40).…”