Oral Microbiome Profiling in Smokers with and without Head and Neck Cancer Reveals Variations Between Health and Disease
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: While smoking is inextricably linked to oral/head and neck cancer (HNSCC), only a small fraction of smokers develop HNSCC. Thus, we have sought to identify other factors, which may influence the development of HNSCC in smokers including microbiology. To determine microbial associations with HNSCC among tobacco users, we characterized oral microbiome composition in smokers with and without HNSCC. 16S rRNA MiSeq sequencing was used to examine the oral mucosa microbiome of 27 smokers with (cases) and 24 without HNSCC (controls). In addition, we correlated previously reported levels of DNA damage with the microbiome data. Smokers with HNSCC showed lower microbiome richness compared with controls (q = 0.012). Beta-diversity analyses, assessed as UniFrac (weighted and unweighted) and Bray–Curtis distances, showed significant differences in oral mucosal microbiome signatures between cases and controls (r2 = 0.03; P = 0.03) and higher interindividual microbiome heterogeneity in the former (q ≤ 0.01). Higher relative abundance of Stenotrophomonas and Comamonadaceae and predicted bacterial pathways mainly involved in xenobiotic and amine degradation were found in cases compared with controls. The latter, in contrast, exhibited higher abundance of common oral commensals and predicted sugar degradation pathways. Finally, levels of DNA damage in the oral cavity were correlated with the microbiome profiles above. Oral microbiome traits differ in smokers with and without HNSCC, potentially informing the risk of eventual HNSCC and shedding light into possible microbially mediated mechanisms of disease. These findings present data that may be useful in screening efforts for HNSCC among smokers who are unable to quit.
Source: Cancer Prevention Research
Institution: University of Minnesota
Language: English
Subfield: Periodontics
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1066998740, G2174128456, Tobacco carcinogens as markers of exposure, carcinogenesis and risk in oral cance, Nornicotine in smokeless tobacco as a precursor for carcinogen exposure, High resolution mass spectrometric profile analysis of carcinogen-DNA adducts in oral cells of cigarette smokers and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
OpenAlex ID: W3008046930