The Oral Microbiome and Head and Neck Cancer

Oral microbiota may influence head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) development, potentially related to carcinogen metabolism. The human oral cavity hosts a diverse microbiota, including bacteria and fungi. We performed shotgun sequencing and ITS1 sequencing on 236 HNSCC case participants who developed HNSCC during a mean follow-up of 5.1 years and 458 matched controls who remained HNSCC-free. Oral samples were obtained from a prospective nested case-control study within three epidemiological cohorts: the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort (ACS CPS-II), the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO), and the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS). Control participants were selected using 2:1 frequency matching based on cohort, age, sex, race and ethnicity, and time since oral sample collection.]]>
Inclusion Criteria:Case participants had histologically confirmed incident HNSCC, including cancers of the oral cavity (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision [ICD-10] codes C02.0-C06.9; excluding salivary glands), pharynx (ICD-10 codes C09.0-C10.9 and C12-C13.9; excluding nasopharynx), and larynx (ICD-10 codes C32.0-32.9). Cohort nested control participants were selected by incidence-density sampling (2:1 frequency matched) by cohort, age, sex, race and ethnicity (African American, White, or other/unknown), and time since oral wash sample collection (in years). All case and control participants provided written informed consent, provided oral wash samples (prediagnostically for case patients), and had no history of cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer).]]>
The 3 US cohorts on which this study is based represent a diversity of US populations resident across the US. The American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort (ACS-CPS-II) included more than 184,000 participants aged 50 to 74 years from 21 US states. Oral wash samples were collected during 2001-2002 from 70,000 cohort members. Follow-up for incident cancer was conducted through June 2009. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) was a large randomized trial at 10 US screening centers that examined the effect of screening on cancer mortality in participants aged 55 to 74 years. Oral wash samples were collected in the control group only (n = 52,000) between 1993 and 2001. Cancer follow-up was conducted through December 2010. The Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS) was a prospective cohort of 85,000 adults, two-thirds African American, aged 40 to 70 years, from 12 southeastern states, conducted between 2002 and 2009. Oral wash samples were collected from 37,836 participants at enrollment. Follow-up for cancer was conducted through 2021.]]>