Oral Microbiome and Pancreatic Cancer

This is a prospective population based study to examine the relationship of oral and pancreatic microbiome, and their functions, to pancreatic cancer risk. The identification of specific oral bacteria and their functional relationship to pancreatic cancer will advance scientific knowledge on the etiology of pancreatic cancer. This could provide a new microbially-based research paradigm, possibly leading to new drug targets for this disease. Second, the oral bacteria may serve as a readily accessible, non-invasive biomarker for subsequent pancreatic cancer risk, which help to identify people at high risk of this disease. Finally, the identified oral bacteria may lead to microbial prophylactic preventions, with antibiotic therapy aimed at eradicating the specific species associated with increased cancer risk or, alternatively, combined with probiotics to introduce species that are associated with a decreased cancer risk. Thus, the study outcomes will lead to actionable means for pancreatic cancer prevention.