Common mouth bacteria ‘Fusobacterium’ found to ‘melt’ cancer cells
The study was led by Dr. Miguel Reis Ferreira, a specialist in head and neck cancers.
Long-term illnesses such as cancer are often considered among the most feared due to their high mortality rates. However, a recent groundbreaking discovery has emerged: Fusobacterium, a bacterium found in the human mouth, may have the ability to break down certain types of cancer. Research from Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College London has highlighted that Fusobacterium is particularly effective in selectively targeting specific types of cancer. This finding has shifted attention towards the potential of Fusobacterium in cancer treatment.
In light of such a finding, one can only speculate that new treatment modalities will at least be brought forward primarily for the treatment of head and neck cancers. The study was led by Dr. Miguel Reis Ferreira, a specialist in head and neck cancers, with words on to say, “In essence, we found that when you find these bacteria within head and neck cancers, they have much better outcomes. The other thing that we found is that in cell cultures, this bacterium is capable of killing cancer.”
Clinical Observations
The extent to which the bacteria seemed to function in exterminating cancer cells amazed scientists, and they proceeded to examine how the bacteria actually eradicated these cells. While speaking with The Guardian, Dr. Miguel said, “What we’re finding is that this little bug is causing a better outcome based on something that it’s doing inside the cancer. So we are looking for that mechanism at present, and it should be the theme for a new paper in the very short-term future.”
He further added, “This research reveals that these bacteria play a more complex role than previously known in their relationship with cancer—that they essentially melt head and neck cancer cells. However, this finding should be balanced by their known role in making cancers such as those in the bowel get worse.”
Clinical and laboratory experiments further supported these observations showing a significant reduction of the surviving cancer cells after contact with the bacteria. For some cases, there was a reduction of cancer cells by 70–99% within the first three days of administering the remedy. The research team initially anticipated that different outcomes would be observed for the reasons that previous studies pointed out the relationship between Fusobacterium and bowel cancer progression. In this regard, rather than expectations of enhancement of tumor growth by the bacteria, the study presented by the investigators showed that the bacteria were capable of quickly and efficiently killing cancerous cells in head and neck cancers.
These findings were further supported by patient information searches of the Cancer Genome Atlas database. It also indicated that, compared to the tumor sample negative for Fusobacterium, the patient whose cancer contained Fusobacterium had a 65 percent lower risk of death. It means that Fusobacterium could be a promising actor in the further development of cancer therapies.
Dr. Anjali Chander, the lead author of the study, called the discovery an “eureka moment,” a sentiment confirmed by international experts. The research team is now dedicated to uncovering the precise mechanism through which Fusobacterium targets and destroys cancer cells, with plans to release more detailed results in the near future.
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