Oral microbiome changes in cancer therapy-induced oral mucositis

Cancer therapy-induced oral mucositis is a frequent major oncological problem. We analyzed the dynamics of the oral microbiome (bacteria and fungi) in nineteen patients undergoing chemo-radiation therapy for oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma as compared to healthy volunteers. The microbiome was characterized in multiple oral sample types using rRNA and ITS sequence amplicons.