Tongue Cancer Microbial Biomarkers from Saliva and Tissue Samples

24 patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in this pilot study. Bacterial exosomes were extracted from saliva, cancer, and para-carcinoma tissue samples, with 16S rRNA sequencing performed to characterize microbial composition. The study identified specific microorganisms like Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Weissella cibaria that were highly prevalent in cancer patients compared to healthy controls.

Use Cases

• Identify microbial biomarkers for oral cancer based on bacterial prevalence in cancer tissues.
• Develop non-invasive screening tools based on microbial abundance in patient saliva.
• Compare microbial communities between cancer tissue, para-carcinoma tissue, and saliva samples.
• Validate potential diagnostic candidates like Burkholderia cepacia or Aeromonas sobria in larger cohorts.

Strengths

• Includes matched sample types from 24 patients: saliva, cancer tissue, and para-carcinoma tissue.
• Uses 16S rRNA sequencing, a standard method for microbial community profiling.
• Identifies specific candidate biomarker species with prevalence differences between patients and healthy controls.

Limitations

• Sample size is limited to 24 patients, which the authors describe as a pilot study.
• Relies on external healthy controls rather than prospectively matched controls.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Bacterial exosomes were extracted from clinical samples, followed by 16S rRNA sequencing.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 04:27:30; freshness should be verified.