Oral and fecal microbiome alterations in pancreatic cancer: insights into potential diagnostic biomarkers

Study information

Needs review

study design

case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

41039266

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1186/s12866-025-04344-2

URI Uniform resource identifier for web resources.

https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-025-04344-2

Authors

Tavanaeian S., Feizabadi M.M., Falsafi S., Aghdaei H.A., Houri H.

Journal

BMC microbiology

Year

2025

Keywords:

Fusobacterium nucleatum, Neisseria elongata, Fecal microbiome, Oral microbiome, Pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: The human microbiome plays a pivotal role in pancreatic cancer (PC). This study investigates the abundance of specific gut and oral microbes in PC patients compared to healthy controls. METHODS: A cohort of 20 diagnosed PC patients and an equivalent control group were recruited. Comprehensive lifestyle data, such as overall food consumption, were collected. Saliva and stool samples were prepared. Microbial DNA was extracted from stool and saliva samples using specialized kits. Primers were designed targeting the conserved regions of the 16 S rRNA genes from Neisseria elongata, Granulicatella adiacens, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Roseburia intestinalis, and Bifidobacterium bifidum. The quantities of selected bacterial species were evaluated using real-time quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Granulicatella adiacens and Fusobacterium nucleatum were significantly increased in the PC group (medians: 7.35 and 4.37 log10 CFU/g, respectively) compared to controls (medians: 2.43 and 1.20 log10 CFU/g ; P < 0.001 for both). Conversely, Neisseria elongata, Roseburia intestinalis, and Bifidobacterium bifidum levels were significantly lower in PC patients (medians: 2.37, 2.34, and 3.45 log10 CFU/g, respectively) compared to controls (medians: 5.63, 5.07, and 4.34 log10 CFU/g; P < 0.001). The principal component analysis confirmed distinct clustering of microbiota profiles between the two groups, with key microorganisms associated with PC. The discriminatory performance of clinical and microbiota variables demonstrated notable accuracy in classifying PC, particularly metrics such as hemoglobin and hematocrit, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 1.00. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, these findings highlight the significant association between microbiome composition and PC, underscoring the potential of microbiota profiles as non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers that warrant further investigation for early detection and therapeutic targeting in clinical practice. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-025-04344-2.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Deborah-Fabusuyi

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Subjects

Location of subjects: Iran

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Pancreatic carcinoma cancer of pancreas,cancer of the pancreas,carcinoma of exocrine pancreas,carcinoma of pancreas,carcinoma of the pancreas,exocrine cancer,exocrine pancreas carcinoma,exocrine pancreatic carcinoma,pancreas cancer,pancreas carcinoma,pancreatic cancer,pancreatic cancer (not islets),pancreatic carcinoma,pancreatic carcinoma, familial,Pancreatic carcinoma

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Healthy control group

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Pancreatic cancer patients

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Newly diagnosed Pancreatic cancer patients between the ages of 20 -70 who have not begun treatments

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 20

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 20

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: Not specified

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: RT-qPCR

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances

Statistical test: Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: No

Signature 1

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Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Deborah-Fabusuyi

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Source: Fig. 1

Description: Differential abundance of gut microbiota between Pancreatic Cancer patients and healthy controls.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Pancreatic cancer patients

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Fusobacterium nucleatum

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Signature 2

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Your review change was submitted

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Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Deborah-Fabusuyi

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Source: Fig. 1

Description: Differential abundance of gut microbiota between Pancreatic Cancer patients and healthy controls.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Pancreatic cancer patients

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bifidobacterium bifidum
Roseburia intestinalis

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Experiment 2

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Your review change was submittedDuplicate this Experiment Add a new Signature

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Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Deborah-Fabusuyi

Revision editor(s): Deborah-Fabusuyi

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Saliva Sailva normalis,Saliva atomaris,Saliva molecularis,Salivary gland secretion,Saliva,saliva