Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed bioengineered chewing gum containing an antimicrobial peptide that reduced harmful HPV and cancer-causing bacteria by more than 99% in oral samples, potentially offering a new preventive approach for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
- Bioengineered chewing gum reduced HPV levels by 93% in saliva and harmful bacteria (Pg and Fn) by more than 99% in combined samples from cancer patients.
- The gum combines lablab bean extract with protegrin-1, an antimicrobial peptide that kills pathogenic bacteria while preserving beneficial oral microbes.
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide, with HPV infection driving increased cases in younger populations.
- The treatment did not harm beneficial bacteria like Streptococci, suggesting selective targeting of disease-causing microbes rather than broad microbiome disruption.
- Researchers plan clinical trials to evaluate whether the therapy can penetrate tumor cells and work as both a preventive and adjuvant cancer treatment.
Chewing gum made from lablab beans bioengineered with an antimicrobial peptide may effectively fend off harmful microbes linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to an article published in Penn Today.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, led by Henry Daniell, PhD, along with collaborators at UCLA and the University of Kansas Medical Center, published their findings in Scientific Reports.
Building on past research using gum made from lablab beans (bean gum), which contains FRIL, a naturally occurring antiviral protein, Daniell and the researchers focused on three microbes linked to HNSCC -- HPV, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) -- detected in oral samples from two study cohorts. The first cohort included 14 HNSCC patients and 12 non-HNSCC patients plus a larger group of HNSCC patients and controls at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
In earlier research, the bean gum extract alone reduced HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples and 80% in oral rinse samples using an ELISA assay that detects six HPV types rather than high-risk strains alone. Building on that work, Daniell and team tested whether the bean gum could also fight bacteria. On its own, the bean gum extract had limited antibacterial effect -- at most a 1-log reduction in Pg and Fn, while at higher concentrations it appeared to promote bacterial growth, possibly because sugars in the bean powder fed the bacteria, they wrote.
To address this issue, the team added protegrin-1, an antimicrobial peptide, to the bean gum. Protegrin is capable of killing harmful anaerobic bacteria such as Pg and Fn. In combined saliva and oral rinse samples from cancer patients (n= 39 to 40), a single dose of bean gum plus protegrin-1 reduced Pg and Fn by more than 99% (a 4- to 6-log reduction, p < 0.0001). Importantly, the combination did not affect Streptococci, a beneficial species, suggesting that the treatment selectively targets pathogenic bacteria rather than broadly disrupting the oral microbiome.
HNSCC is the seventh most common cancer worldwide. In the U.S., it comprises 3% to 4% of cancer diagnoses. HNSCC originates in the lining of the mouth and throat and is caused by factors that alter DNA in cells, including smoking, using chewing tobacco, and heavy alcohol consumption. HNSCC can be an aggressive form of cancer.
Certain strains of HPV are linked to the development of HNSCC, and HPV infection accounts for the increasing incidence of HNSCC among younger populations. A higher abundance of these two bacteria and HPV corresponds with worse survival rates for HNSCC.
"The global increase in oropharyngeal cancer is linked to HPV infection," says Daniell. "And Pg and Fn infections worsen survival rates of untreated recurrent or metastatic oral cancer, even after surgery and risk-adjusted adjuvant, or supplemental, therapies."
Further, recently approved cancer medications haven’t produced significant improvements in patients’ quality of life or five-year survival rates. That lack of progress highlights the need for novel treatments or approaches to treating HNSCC, Daniell said.
The study had several limitations, including that it was an early-stage, ex vivo study using saliva or oral rinse samples that did not monitor long-term changes in the oral microbiome. Daniell said future studies will target tumor cells, evaluating whether FRIL and protegrin penetrate tumor cells and kill HPV and pathogenic bacteria.
Nevertheless, Daniell wrote, "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."
