In a Philadelphia laboratory, a team at the University of Pennsylvania has found that a gum made from beans can loosen the grip of certain viruses and bacteria that dwell in the mouth and throat, microbes tied to cancers that are hard to reach and harder to cure. The work, tested on samples taken from patients with head and neck cancer, is a patient step in a long human effort to read the quiet ecosystems within us and to ask whether they might be tended rather than only treated. Whether this humble chew can become a real guardian of health remains an open question, one that will be answered o
Bioengineered Chewing Gum Cuts HPV Levels Up to 93% in Lab Tests, Spares Beneficial Oral Bacteria
A familiar everyday product could become an unexpected addition to the medical toolkit
Mark
Why does a gum matter here, rather than a pill or a rinse?
Mimi
The microbes live in the mouth, so the gum delivers protective proteins right there. The researchers also see the plant-based approach as potentially cheaper.
Luke
Cheaper is their expectation, though. The reporting gives no cost figures.
Mark
The 93% number is striking. What exactly was measured?
Mimi
HPV levels in saliva samples from head and neck cancer patients after exposure to gum extract. In oral rinse samples the drop was 80%.
Luke
And that's a lab test on collected samples. Nobody chewed anything. So 93% describes a dish, not a mouth.
Mark
What about the bacteria?
Mimi
With protegrin added, one dose of extract took Pg and Fn to nearly undetectable levels, and the beneficial bacteria they examined weren't affected.
Luke
Worth noting that's the beneficial bacteria they examined, not the whole microbiome. And we don't know yet whether cutting these microbes improves survival.
Mark
So what's next?
Mimi
Human clinical trials, as an add-on to treatment or as prevention.
Luke
Which is where we'll learn if any of this works outside the lab.
Il Polso
- Head and neck cancers resist treatment, and late diagnoses leave patients with few good options.
- Lab samples from cancer patients showed HPV dropping by as much as 93% after exposure to bean gum extract.
- A protegrin-enhanced version nearly wiped out two bacteria linked to worse cancer outcomes in a single dose, while beneficial microbes survived untouched.
- The findings remain in the laboratory, and human chewing trials are the next hurdle before anyone can know whether the gum truly protects or heals.
In a Philadelphia laboratory, a team at the University of Pennsylvania has found that a gum made from beans can loosen the grip of certain viruses and bacteria that dwell in the mouth and throat, microbes tied to cancers that are hard to reach and harder to cure. The work, tested on samples taken from patients with head and neck cancer, is a patient step in a long human effort to read the quiet ecosystems within us and to ask whether they might be tended rather than only treated. Whether this humble chew can become a real guardian of health remains an open question, one that will be answered only when people, not just petri dishes, take part.
In a laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Dental Medicine, researchers exposed oral samples from head and neck cancer patients to extracts of a chewing gum made from beans. The HPV in those samples fell sharply, by 93 percent in saliva and 80 percent in oral rinses. Led by Henry Daniell, the team published its findings in Scientific Reports.
The cancer they hope to affect, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, begins in the flat cells lining the mouth and throat. Once it spreads, it is difficult to treat, and Daniell notes that recent drugs have rarely brought large gains in quality of life or five-year survival. So the team turned toward the mouth's own inhabitants. Most microbes there are harmless or helpful, but HPV and two bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, have been linked to cancer's development and to poorer outcomes.
The gum builds on an earlier lablab bean version containing FRIL, a protein with antiviral properties, which drove the HPV reductions. For the bacteria, the researchers added protegrin, a short antimicrobial peptide. A single dose brought both bacteria to nearly undetectable levels, and the beneficial bacteria the team examined were left alone. That balance matters, because cancer treatments such as radiation can already disturb the mouth's microbial harmony.
The limits are plain. These results come from lab tests, not from people chewing the gum, and there is no evidence yet that it prevents or treats cancer. Daniell believes the findings justify human trials, both alongside current treatments and as a possible shield against infection and transmission. The next step is a clinical trial to test safety and effect in people.
In a laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Dental Medicine, researchers exposed oral samples from head and neck cancer patients to extracts of a chewing gum made from beans. The HPV in those samples dropped sharply. In saliva, levels fell by 93%. In oral rinse samples, they fell by 80%. The work, published in Scientific Reports, was led by Henry Daniell, the W.D. Miller Professor in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences at Penn Dental Medicine.
The target is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a common cancer that starts in the thin, flat squamous cells lining the mouth and throat. Once it has spread, it is hard to treat, and patients diagnosed late often do poorly. Daniell says recently approved cancer drugs have generally not produced large gains in patients' quality of life or in the chance of surviving five years past diagnosis.
His team looked instead at the mouth's microbial residents. Most are harmless or helpful, but some viruses and bacteria have been tied to the development or progression of these cancers. The researchers chose three: HPV, a common virus that can cause cancer when infection persists, and two bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), linked to oral disease and worse outcomes in some cancer patients. Daniell notes that the global rise in oropharyngeal cancer, which affects the middle of the throat including the tonsils and base of the tongue, is linked to HPV. He adds that Pg and Fn infections worsen survival in untreated recurrent or metastatic oral cancer, even after surgery and supplemental therapies.
The study builds on the team's earlier gum made from lablab beans. That gum contains FRIL, a naturally occurring protein with antiviral properties. It was the FRIL-containing extract that produced the HPV reductions in the patient samples.
For the bacteria, the team went further and engineered the gum to carry protegrin, an antimicrobial peptide, a short chain of amino acids that can attack and destroy harmful microorganisms. With protegrin added, a single dose of the gum extract pushed Pg and Fn down to nearly undetectable levels.
The researchers also found that the extract left the mouth's helpful bacteria alone. That matters because the oral microbiome helps keep the mouth in balance, and some cancer care disrupts it. Radiation therapy, for example, can thin out beneficial bacteria while allowing potentially harmful yeast such as Candida albicans to grow. The gum extract sharply cut the targeted bacteria without affecting the beneficial populations the team examined.
The limits are clear. All of this came from laboratory testing of patient samples, not from trials in which people chewed the gum. There is no evidence yet that the gum prevents or treats cancer in humans, and it remains to be shown whether the effects hold in a living mouth or whether lowering these microbes improves cancer outcomes.
Daniell argues the results justify human trials, either as an adjunct to current treatments or as prophylaxis against infection and transmission. He cited lip and oral cavity cancer as the seventh leading cancer type in incidence and mortality worldwide among adolescents, young adults and middle-aged adults in 2022. The researchers also see the plant-based approach as a potentially inexpensive way to deliver protective proteins straight to where the microbes live.
Coauthors include Geetanjali Wakade, Rahul Singh and Smruti Nair of Penn Dental Medicine; Andrés M. Bur and Sufi M. Thomas of the University of Kansas Medical Center; Eri S. Srivatsan and Marilene B. Wang of UCLA; and Saroj K. Basak of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Funding came from the NIH, UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, and the National Cancer Institute. The next step is a clinical trial to test safety and effect in people.
Citazioni salienti
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.— Henry Daniell, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su Science Daily ↗