Characteristics of microbial distribution in different oral niches of oral squamous cell carcinoma

In this study, samples were collected from OSCC patients, including tumor tissue, adjacent normal tissue (paracancerous tissue), cancer surface tissue, anatomically matched contralateral normal mucosa, saliva, and tongue coat. 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing was used to compare the microbial composition, distribution, and co-occurrence network among different oral niches. The association between the microbiome and the clinical features of OSCC was also characterized.