Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Cancer Causes Control. 2012 Mar;23(3):399-404. doi: 10.1007/s10552-011-9892-7. Epub 2012 Jan 22.
A growing body of evidence implicates human oral bacteria in the etiology of oral and gastrointestinal cancers. Epidemiological studies consistently report increased risks of these cancers in men and women with periodontal disease or tooth loss, conditions caused by oral bacteria. More than 700 bacterial species inhabit the oral cavity, including at least 11 bacterial phyla and 70 genera. Oral bacteria may activate alcohol and smoking-related carcinogens locally or act systemically, through chronic inflammation. High-throughput genetic-based assays now make it possible to comprehensively survey the human oral microbiome, the totality of bacteria in the oral cavity. Establishing the association of the oral microbiome with cancer risk may lead to significant advances in understanding of cancer etiology, potentially opening a new research paradigm for cancer prevention.
越来越多的证据表明，人类口腔细菌与口腔和胃肠道癌症的病因有关。流行病学研究一致报告，患有牙周病或牙齿缺失的男性和女性患这些癌症的风险增加，而这些疾病是由口腔细菌引起的。超过 700 种细菌栖息在口腔中，包括至少 11 个细菌门和 70 个属。口腔细菌可能会在局部激活酒精和吸烟相关的致癌物质，或者通过慢性炎症在全身发挥作用。基于高通量遗传的检测方法现在可以全面检测人类口腔微生物组，即口腔中细菌的总和。确定口腔微生物组与癌症风险的关联可能会极大地促进对癌症病因的理解，有可能为癌症预防开辟一个新的研究范例。
