Association of with oropharyngeal cancer: A patient-control study.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the frequencies and bacterial load of three species of periodontal bacteria in samples from oropharyngeal cancer patients versus healthy individuals.

STUDY DESIGN

This is a case-control study based on biopsies collected from tumor tissues obtained from patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma between 2016 and 2017 and shed oral mucosal epithelial cells that were collected from controls using the Cepimax® brush, carrying out several brushings towards the posterior third edge of the tongue and the cheek. and detection and absolute quantification was determined through q-PCR. Statistical analysis included a U- test, , Fisher's exact test, odds ratio (OR) and Conditional logistic regression analysis and unconditional regression analysis ( < 0.05).

RESULTS

A total of 48 donors older than 55 years old participated in this study. The population was distributed into 24 patients (cases) and 24 controls. A robust association was established in cases and controls with significance regarding (OR: 15.00) and (OR:11.00). In the comparison between the amount of each bacteria in the groups, showed a higher bacterial load in oropharyngeal cancer patients ( = 0.04). However, multivariate analysis adjusted to the presence of different bacteria and the diverse confounding variables did not reveal significant differences for oropharyngeal cancer association.

CONCLUSION

and were detected more frequently in the group of patients with cancer. The bivariate analysis of the bacterial load evidenced significant differences for , suggesting that it could be associated with oropharyngeal cancer.