Did you know that the mouth is home to one of the largest microbial communities in the human body?
A single milliliter of saliva may contain around 100 million microbial cells, mostly bacteria.
Most of these microbes are harmless—and many are beneficial. However, disruptions in this complex ecosystem have been linked to serious diseases, including cancer.
The growing recognition of the human microbiome as an important player in cancer highlights the promise of this rapidly evolving field. In our lab, we investigate the mechanisms driving head and neck carcinogenesis, with a particular focus on the dynamic interactions between tumor cells and the oral microbiota—especially, though not exclusively, bacteria (Tumor microbiome research).
A central theme of our work is understanding how oral dysbiosis—an imbalance in the microbial community—may contribute to the initiation and progression of malignancy. By bridging microbiology, immunology, oncology, and dental science, our research supports the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle complex diseases such as head and neck cancer.
Our discoveries have revealed novel mechanisms underlying cancer cell phenotypic plasticity, with potential implications for lymphatic metastasis. Through strong international collaborations and the continued support of our funders, we are expanding this work to explore how bacterial vesicles, toxins, and other microbial factors may influence cancer development—from potentially premalignant changes to invasive disease.
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