The bacteria in your mouth can tell if you are at risk of developing pancreatic cancer. This was announced by researchers from Langone Medical Center, New York University (United States) in American Academy of Cancer Research Annual Meeting(AACR). According to these scientists, the presence of two species of bacteria linked to periodontal infections (Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans) in the mouths of healthy people would be associated with an increased risk of later developing pancreatic cancer. These bacteria are involved in infections that destroy the supporting tissues of teeth, namely the gums and the jawbones.
59 to 119% more risk
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the bacterial content of oral swabs from 732 people belonging to two large cancer study cohorts (the Cancer Prevention Study II and Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial cohorts). Among these participants, 361 developed pancreatic cancer after the oral swab. The remaining 371 did not develop cancer. The researchers then noted that the presence of the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis was associated with a 59% higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Worse, the bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans meanwhile increased the risk by 119%.
Towards new screening tools
“These data do not show a cause and effect link, but they are the first step in understanding a potential new risk factor in pancreatic cancer, which is essential for developing new approaches to prevention and diagnosis in the near future. early in this cancer“said Jiyoung Ahn, doctoral student in population health and lead author of the study, in a press release from the AACR Congress.”If these results are confirmed by other studies, they could lead to new methods of screening for this disease.“, she adds. According to the Foundation for Research on Cancer, around 11,600 new pancreatic cancers occur each year in France. It is the sixth most common cancer, and one of the deadliest because the diagnosis often occurs at an already advanced stage.
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