Bowel cancer growth linked to an oral bacteria

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have found that a specific subtype of a microbe commonly found in the mouth is able to travel to the gut and grow within colorectal cancer tumors. This microbe is also a culprit for driving cancer progression and leads to poorer patient outcomes after cancer treatment.

The findings, published on March 20, could help improve therapeutic approaches and early screening methods for colorectal cancer.

Examining colorectal cancer tumors removed from 200 patients, the Fred Hutch team measured levels of Fusobacterium nucleatum, a bacterium known to infect tumours. In about 50 per cent of the cases, they found that only a specific subtype of the bacterium was elevated in the tumour tissue compared to healthy tissue.