Overview

• An NYU-led analysis published Sept. 18 in JAMA Oncology found that a community of 27 oral bacteria and fungi was collectively associated with about a 3.5-fold higher risk of future pancreatic cancer.
• The study profiled saliva from roughly 122,000 participants in the ACS Cancer Prevention Study II and the PLCO trial, tracking them for about nine years.
• Investigators compared microbiomes from 445 people who developed pancreatic cancer with 445 matched cancer-free controls after adjusting for factors such as age, race and smoking.
• Three periodontal pathogens—Porphyromonas gingivalis, Eubacterium nodatum and Parvimonas micra—and Candida fungi were linked to increased risk, with Candida also detected in some pancreatic tumors.
• The team introduced an initial oral microbiome–based risk estimation tool and plans further work to test mechanisms, assess viral roles and validate the approach before clinical use.