Extracts from bioengineered antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums may decrease the numbers of microbes associated with worse outcomes in head and neck cancers, according to a story published on April 20 on Penn Today.
This research, led by Henry Daniell, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and published in Scientific Reports, may lead the way for more effective and affordable therapies, according to the story.
“Our findings support the value of advancing these therapies to clinical trials as adjuvants with current treatments or as prophylaxis to prevent infection and transmission,” Daniell said in the story.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a common cancer that grows in the lining of the mouth and throat, often has poor outcomes. Better therapies are needed because most of the approved cancer drugs do not significantly improve quality of life or five-year survival rates.
Building on past research that included a chewing gum made from lablab beans, which contains the naturally antiviral protein FRIL, the researchers examined the levels of three microbes linked to cancer -- HPV, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum -- in oral samples from patients with HNSCC.
Researchers discovered that bean gum extracts reduced HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples, and the levels dropped 80% in oral rinse samples, according to the story.
When the gum was bioengineered to contain protegrin, an antimicrobial peptide, one dose decreased the levels of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum to nearly zero without negatively affecting the good bacteria found in the oral cavity. It is an upside to radiation therapy, which raises levels of disease-causing yeast and reduces good bacteria, according to the story.
