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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · South Asian J Cancer 2012; 01(02): 78-83
DOI: 10.4103/2278-330X.103719
Review Article

Role of bacteria in oral carcinogenesis

R Rajeev
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College, Trivandrum, Kerala
,
Kanaram Choudhary
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College, Trivandrum, Kerala
,
Swagatika Panda
Institute of Dental Sciences – Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
,
Neha Gandhi
Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
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Source of Support: Nil.
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Abstract

Oral cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Indian men and is the leading cause of cancer deaths. It is considered as a multistep and multifactorial disease. Besides accumulation of genetic mutations, numerous other carcinogens are involved. In this category, viral and chemical carcinogens are well studied and documented. However, in the oral cavity, the role of microbiota in carcinogenesis is not known. Microbial populations on mouth mucosa differ between healthy and malignant sites, and certain oral bacterial species have been linked with malignancies, but the evidence is still weak in this respect. Nevertheless, oral microorganisms inevitably up-regulate cytokines and other inflammatory mediators that affect the complex metabolic pathways, and may thus be involved in carcinogenesis. Poor oral health associates statistically with prevalence of many types of cancer such as pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancer. This review presents possible carcinogenesis pathway involved in bacterial carcinogenesis, commonly implicated bacteria in oral carcinogenesis, and their role in cancer therapeutics as well.

Key words

Bacterial carcinogenesis - carcinogenesis - Helicobacter pylori - Streptococcus anginosus


Publication History

Article published online:
30 December 2020

© 2012. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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