Role of Porphyromonas gingivalis in oral squamous cell carcinoma development: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective The target of the current systematic review is to gather and synthesize the most recent scientific information about the role of Porphyromonas gingivalis in the molecular pathways of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Background Oral squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the oral cavity, with a poor prognosis and a low survival rate. Etiology is multifactorial but consumption of tobacco and alcohol is the most important risk factors. P gingivalis is a Gram‐negative anaerobic bacterium commonly found in oral microbiota that has been linked to periodontal disease (PD), and recently to OSCC. However, its association with OSCC development is not well defined. Material and methods A bibliographic research was carried out selecting articles published until 2019, on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, with the keywords “Porphyromonas gingivalis,” “oral cancer,” “oral squamous cell carcinoma,” and “periodontal pathogen.” Results Seventeen articles, 14 in vitro and three in animal models, were selected. Models mimicking OSCC were OSCC pre‐established cell lines (11 studies), OSCC/ healthy human biopsies (three studies), and animals with OSCC (three studies). P gingivalis strains used to cause infection in these studies were ATCC 33277, 381, and W83. Conclusions Porphyromonas gingivalis could play an important role in OSCC development and could be involved in three different stages: epithelial‐mesenchymal transition of malignant cells, neoplastic proliferation, and tumor invasion. Current findings emphasize the convenience of treatment and control approaches of PD as part of the primary prevention of OSCC.

The Oral Microbiome and Cancer

“…Utilizing a murine model of periodontitis-associated oral tumorigenesis, Binder Gallimidi et al showed that chronic bacterial co-infection of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum promotes OSCC via direct interaction with oral epithelial cells through Toll-like receptors, with an increase in expression of TLR2 in OSCC cells and IL-6 in both cells and the mouse model (160). A detailed review of all the studies where P. gingivalis has been associated with the development of OSCC has been recently published by Lafuente Ibañez de Mendoza et al (161).…”

Intracellular Porphyromonas gingivalis Promotes the Proliferation of Colorectal Cancer Cells via the MAPK/ERK Signaling Pathway

“…Interestingly, a mixed infection of F. nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) has been shown to be much more effective than mono-infection in experimental periodontitis (Polak et al, 2009). In addition, P. gingivalis, a major pathogen of periodontitis, is also associated with OSCC (Geng et al, 2017;Lafuente Ibanez de Mendoza et al, 2020;Wen et al, 2020), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (Gao et al, 2016), pancreatic cancer (Michaud et al, 2013), cardiovascular disease (Gibson et al, 2004) and rheumatoid arthritis (Wegner et al, 2010). In the mucosa-adherent and fecal microbiota, Porphyromonas has been shown to be enriched in CRC patients (Chen et al, 2012;Ahn et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2013;Zackular et al, 2014).…”

Microbes in Tumoral In Situ Tissues and in Tumorigenesis

“…The possible mechanisms include epithelial mesenchymal transformation in malignant cells, tumor proliferation, and tumor invasion. However, the accuracy of this finding is still waiting to be confirmed in in vitro studies and animal models (Hoppe et al, 2016;Lafuente Ibanez de Mendoza et al, 2019).…”

“…Promote the overexpression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells and the activation of cyclin-D1, an epidermal growth factor receptor ligand that promote the growth of tumors, eventually provoking nuclear translocation; epithelial mesenchymal transformation in malignant cells, tumor proliferation and tumor invasion (Hoppe et al, 2016;Lafuente Ibanez de Mendoza et al, 2019).…”