Dental 4 Less, Colorectal tumors exacerbated by mouth microbes
Mouth microbes called fusobacteria may use the bloodstream to reach and worsen colorectal tumors through a special sugar-binding protein, study finds.
Previous studies by the Garrett Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, have shown fusobacteria to promote the formation of colorectal tumors and exacerbate colorectal cancer in animals. Also, they found that fusobacteria are enriched in human colorectal tissue when compared with neighboring healthy tissue.
According to the Harvard researchers and scientists from the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine in Israel, this is the first study to shed light on how the microbes from the mouth make their way to the gut, and how they localize to and become abundant in colorectal tumors.