• Center on Health Equity and Access
  • Clinical
  • Health Care Cost
  • Health Care Delivery
  • Insurance
  • Policy
  • Technology
  • Value-Based Care

Oral Bacterial Profile in the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Article

Researchers at Brown University may provide a new early diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer.

A new study finds significant associations between antibodies for multiple oral bacteria and the risk of pancreatic cancer, adding support for the emerging idea that the ostensibly distant medical conditions are related.

The study of blood samples from more than 800 European adults, published in the journal Gut, found that high antibody levels for one of the more infectious periodontal bacterium strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis were associated with a two-fold risk for pancreatic cancer. Meanwhile, study subjects with high levels of antibodies for some kinds of harmless “commensal” oral bacteria were associated with a 45-percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer.

“The relative increase in risk from smoking is not much bigger than two,” said Brown University epidemiologist Dominique Michaud, the paper’s corresponding author. “If this is a real effect size of two, then potential impact of this finding is really significant.”

Press release: http://bit.ly/1o6KQ7v

Source: Brown University

Related Videos
Judith Alberto, MHA, RPh, BCOP, director of clinical initiatives, Community Oncology Alliance
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Will Shapiro, vice president of data science, Flatiron Health
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Will Shapiro, vice president of data science, Flatiron Health
Jonathan E. Levitt, Esq, Frier Levitt, LLC
Judy Alberto, MHA, RPh, BCOP, Community Oncology Alliance
Mila Felder, MD, FACEP, emergency physician and vice president for Well-Being for All Teammates, Advocate Health
Emily Touloukian, DO, Coastal Cancer Center
Related Content
© 2024 MJH Life Sciences
AJMC®
All rights reserved.