Photo Illustration by Michela Buttignol for Verywell Health; Getty Images
Your mouth is teeming with microbes.
Most of these are harmless, and many are protective.
But sometimes, certain hardy bacteria can leave the mouth and travel throughout the body.
Photo Illustration by Michela Buttignol for Verywell Health; Getty Images
Depending on where they land, they can spur cancer and cause all sorts of other problems.
Recent research shows that the bacteria helpscolorectal cancertumors develop and metastasize.
In a study last month, the team examined colorectal cancer tumors from 200 patients.
That bacterium was also more prevalent in the stool of people with colorectal cancer.
Almost all people haveFusobacterium nucleatumin their mouths, but it rarely appears in the digestive tract of healthy people.
Two decades ago, Hans lab discovered howFusobacterium nucleatumbinds to cells throughout the body, including cancer cells.
Those sturdy exterior proteins appear to protect bacteria against the destructive properties of stomach acid.
The amyloid adhesive also helps the bacteria bind to a specific site on cancer cells, Han said.
Theres no evidence yet thatFusobacterium nucleatumcancausecancer to form where there are no existing precancerous cells, Han said.
That plaque is made up of lots of bacteria, includingFusobacteria, which feed on sugars in the mouth.
Their waste can cause gums to become inflamed and swollen.
With good oral hygiene, gingivitis can go away on its own.
Gum disease can arise from poor oral hygiene, but other risk factors play a role, too.
Smoking, diabetes, and some hormonal shifts can also increase a persons risk for gum disease.
Beyond Colorectal Cancer
Fusobacteriaare implicated in many different diseases beyond colorectal cancer.
Han said theFusobacteriumis one of the few bacteria that can cross both the blood-brain barrier and the placental barrier.
Johnston said that people with tumors containingFusobacteria nucleatumtend to have poorer survival and poorer prognosis than those without it.
Scientists are still learning how frequentlyFusobacterium nucleatumappears in colorectal tumors.
Theres not yet a widely available test to identify whether you harbor harmful oral bacteria.
Once scientists know what to target, they can develop vaccines or other therapies to neutralize that threat.
Your mouth is the gateway to your overall health.
You cannot separate the mouth from the rest of the bodythe human body is one connected entity.
Zepeda-Rivera M, Minot SS, Bouzek H, et al.A distinctFusobacterium nucleatumclade dominates the colorectal cancer niche.Nature.
