Research Finds That Common Bacteria Can 'melt' And Destroy Cancer With Up To 99 Percent Success

Xantha Latham, Deputy Science Editor

00:01 27 July 2024, Updated 00:01 27 July 2024

Scientists have discovered that a bacteria commonly found in the mouth can ‘melt away’ some cancers.

Researchers were “surprised” to find that head and neck cancer patients who had Fusobacterium in their tumors had “significantly better outcomes.”

The exact biological mechanism behind this relationship is being further investigated by experts.

In laboratory studies, the team from Guy’s and St Thomas’s at King’s College London put small amounts of bacteria into petri dishes with cancer cells and left them for a few days.

They found that the number of head and neck cancer cells decreased by 70 to 99 percent after being infected with Fusobacterium.

A bacteria commonly found in the mouth can ‘melt away’ some cancers, according to new research.

The researchers were “surprised” to find that head and neck cancer patients who had Fusobacterium (seen) in their tumors had “significantly better outcomes.”

In picture: Dr Anjali Chander and Dr Miguel Reis Ferreira, whose study led to the ‘remarkable and very surprising’ discovery

Further analysis of 155 patients with head and neck cancer found that those who had bacteria in their tumors were more likely to survive than those who did not have bacteria in their tumors, and had a 65 percent reduced risk of death.

…because there is a disease warning on toothpaste labels

New labels on toothpaste and mouthwash will encourage users to contact their doctor if they notice symptoms of oral cancer.

Under the partnership, the NHS logo and symptom details will be added to millions of tubes and bottles of Asda’s own-brand products.

Figures from the Mouth Cancer Foundation show it is the eighth most common cancer in the UK, with 11,700 new cases diagnosed each year.

The disease is twice as common in men as women, and about eight out of ten cases occur in people over the age of 55. Symptoms include ulcers, lumps or swelling in the mouth, jaw or neck that lasts longer than three weeks, and difficulty swallowing, chewing or moving the jaw or tongue. Numbness, sore throat or hoarseness and unexplained loosening of teeth may also be possible symptoms of cancer.

NHS England said the partnership with Asda (which sells 2 million products a year) would be ‘vital in supporting the NHS’s ambition to diagnose more cancers early.’

The researchers hope these findings could help improve treatments for patients with head and neck cancers — which include cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, nose and sinuses.

Experts said there has been very little medical progress in this area over the past 20 years, and it is hoped the discovery will lead to new treatments in the future.

“In essence, what we found was that when you find these bacteria in head and neck cancers, they have significantly better outcomes,” said senior author Dr. Miguel Reis Ferreira.

‘The second thing we found is that this bacterium is able to kill cancer in cell culture.

‘This research shows that these bacteria play a more complex role in their relationship with cancer than previously known – namely that they essentially melt away head and neck cancer cells.

‘This could mean that we can use these bacteria to better predict which patients are more likely to have good or poor outcomes.’

He said: ‘Based on this, we can modify their treatment to make it more gentle for patients who have better outcomes, or more intense for patients whose cancer is more likely to recur.’

“Our findings are remarkable and quite surprising,” said lead author Dr Anjali Chander, senior clinical research fellow at King’s College London.

The team has published a paper on their findings in the journal Cancer Communications, describing how Fusobacterium is ‘toxic’ to head and neck cancer and how its presence ‘may determine better prognosis’.

“Detection of Fusobacterium was associated with both better overall survival and better disease-specific survival,” the authors wrote.

Disclaimer : The content in this article is for educational and informational purposes only.