Variations in Oral Microbiota Composition Are Associated With a Risk of Throat Cancer

Abstract

In this study, a next-generation sequencing strategy on 16 S ribosomal RNA (16 S rRNA) gene was employed to analyze 70 oral samples from 32 patients with throat cancer, nine patients with vocal cord polyp, and 29 healthy individuals (normal controls). Using this strategy, we demonstrated, for the first time, that the salivary microbiota of cancer patients were significantly different from those of patients with a polyp and healthy individuals. We observed that the beta diversity of the cancer group was divergent from both the normal and polyp groups, while alpha-diversity indices such as the Chao1 estimator ( P = 8.1e-05), Simpson ( P = 0.0045), and Shannon ( P = 0.0071) were significantly reduced in cancer patients compared with patients containing a polyp and normal healthy individuals. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and Kruskal–Wallis test analyses and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) verification test revealed that the genera Aggregatibacter, Pseudomonas, Bacteroides , and Ruminiclostridium were significantly enriched in the throat cancer group compared with the vocal cord polyp and normal control groups (score value >2). Finally, diagnostic models based on putatively important constituent bacteria were constructed with 87.5% accuracy [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.875, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.695–1]. In summary, in this study we characterized, for the first time, the oral microbiota of throat cancer patients without smoking history. We speculate that these results will help in the pathogenic mechanism and early diagnosis of throat cancer.

The salivary microbiota in health and disease

“…On the other hand, gastrointestinal cancers of various origins were associated with an increased salivary bacterial diversity and high levels of P. gingivalis as compared to matched healthy controls [83]. In line, a study from 2019 used NGS of SM to discriminate patients with throat cancer from healthy controls and patients with vocal cord polyps with an AUC = 0.87 [84]. Finally, two cross-sectional studies have compared SM in patients with lung cancer to healthy controls.…”

Study on the Salivary Microbial Alteration of Men With Head and Neck Cancer and Its Relationship With Symptoms in Southwest China

“…Researchers in northeast China used receiving operational curve (ROC) analysis on the putative throat cancer markers Pseudomonas, Aggregatibacter, Bacteroides, and Ruminiclostridium6, and they found robust diagnostic accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.875. These results indicated that specific oral microorganisms might be promising noninvasive biomarkers for making an early detection and diagnosis of cancer patients (Zhu et al, 2017;Lim et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2019). However, influence from geographical factors, races and ethnicities, dietary habits, and climates may affect the oral microbial profiles of local people (He et al, 2018).…”

A Literature Review of the Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers of Head and Neck Neoplasms

“…These studies have demonstrated that the mucosal layers of the mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines are colonized by commensal bacteria, which play an important part in normal human health and can therefore also play a role in the development of malignancies. For example, Helicobacter pylori infection can induce gastric cancer through gastric dysbiosis (63).…”

“…The association between variations in the human microbiome and throat cancer has also been studied. Wang et al studied microbial markers in the saliva of patients with throat cancer (hypopharyngeal carcinoma and laryngeal carcinoma) and in the saliva of patients with vocal cord polyps and healthy controls (63). They revealed a significant difference in the microbiome of throat cancer patients vs. patients with vocal cord polyps and healthy controls.…”