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... (for more see dbGaP study page.)