Can chewing gum prevent oral cancer?
A novel bioengineered chewing gum could help protect against the development of oral cancer by targeting carcinogenic oral microbes, according to a news article from Oral Health.
Experts cited in the article stressed that head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common cancer types in younger patients globally, and the transmission of cancer-causing microbes fuels its prevalence. However, when diagnosed at later stages, the disease often has poor survival outcomes.
In an ex vivo clinical study published in Scientific Reports, researchers examined whether an antibacterial and antiviral bean-lectin chewing gum could remove oral pathogens such as human papillomavirus, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum among saliva and oral-rinse samples from patients with and without head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
The chewing gum was found to aggregate 93% and 80% of HPV in the saliva and oral-rinse samples of the participants with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Further, when the chewing gum was enhanced with the antimicrobial peptide protegrin-1, the combination was effective in aggregating nearly 100% of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum in the saliva and oral-rinse samples without affecting capsule-forming bacterial populations.
As a result of the positive findings, the researchers hope to conduct clinical trials further exploring the utility of prophylactic chewing gums to target carcinogenic microbes, minimize the need for radiation therapy and reduce the burden of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Read more: Oral Health
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