Chewing gum made from lablab beans dramatically reduced HPV and almost completely eradicated two bacteria linked to head and neck cancer while preserving beneficial mouth bacteria. The corresponding findings were published in Scientific Reports.
”Lip and oral cavity cancer was the seventh leading cancer type in cancer incidence and mortality rate worldwide in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults in 2022,” said lead author of the study, Henry Daniell, at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in a press release.
”The global increase in oropharyngeal cancer is linked to HPV infection. 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,” he added.
For the study, researchers gathered saliva and oral-rinse samples from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. They focused on three microbes linked to cancer in particular: human papillomavirus (HPV) and two bacterial species, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn).
They then tested extracts from a bioengineered chewing gum made from lablab beans that contains FRIL, a naturally occurring antiviral protein, on the oral samples. Ultimately, tests showed that extracts from the gum reduced HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples and 80% in oral rinse samples.
The researchers then engineered the gum to contain protegrin, an antimicrobial peptide. A single dose of the modified gum almost completely eradicated Pg and Fn while leaving beneficial bacteria largely unaffected. This is an important finding because conventional treatments such as radiation therapy can disrupt the oral microbiome and promote the overgrowth of opportunistic organisms such as Candida albicans.
“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,” said Daniell.
Sources: Scientific Reports, Science Daily
