Oral Bacteria May Diagnose Pancreatic Cancer

Patients with pancreatic cancer have a different and distinct profile of specific bacteria in their saliva compared to healthy controls and even patients with other cancers or pancreatic diseases.

Patients diagnosed in the early stages of pancreatic cancer have a 5-year survival rate of 21.5%, but unfortunately symptoms do not appear until after the cancer has become untreatable in the vast majority of cases.


Scientists from San Diego State University (CA, USA) compared the diversity of saliva bacteria across 131 patients, 63 females and 68 males, being treated at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center (La Jolla, CA, USA). Of these patients, 14 had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, 13 with pancreatic disease, 22 with other forms of cancer, and 10 were disease free.

The results of the study found that patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer had higher levels of two particular oral bacteria, Leptotrichia and Campylobacter, when compared to any other healthy or diseased state including noncancerous pancreatic disease. Those with pancreatic cancer also had lower levels of Streptococcus, Treponema, and Veillonella. These findings could form the basis for a test to diagnose the pancreatic cancer in its early stages.

Pedro Torres, BS, the coauthor of the study with Scott T. Kelley, PhD, said, “Our studies suggest that ratios of particular types of bacteria found in saliva may be indicative of pancreatic cancer. The results also suggest the presence of a consistently distinct microbial profile for pancreatic cancer. We may be able to detect pancreatic cancer at its early stages by taking individuals’ saliva and looking at the ratios of these bacteria.”

In the USA, approximately 40,000 people die every year due to pancreatic adenocarcinoma, making it the fourth leading cause of cancer related death. The study was presented on May 18, 2014, at the Annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 17–20, 2014, in Boston (MA, USA).

Related Links:
San Diego State University 
Moores Cancer Center