Could gum disease be linked to oral cancer? New research to investigate

Cancer needs blood vessels to grow and spread. Now the team from the University’s Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMed) is aiming to build on evidence that shows how bacteria which cause periodontitis (or gum disease), are linked to blood vessel formation (a process called angiogenesis).

The project, led by Dr Louise Belfield, is funded by a Colgate Robin Davies Dental Care Professionals award, part of the Oral and Dental Research Trust.

The researchers will grow mini tumours and blood vessels in the laboratory, and add bacteria to identify what effect they have on the blood vessels, and how they operate.

Blood vessels that supply a tumour grow and work differently to normal blood vessels. If the research ascertains that bacteria make the blood vessels grow more rapidly and similarly to those associated with tumours, and identify the exact process by which they do this, it could form the basis of a new screening programme to treat or detect the cancer risk earlier.