Metabolic and Community Synergy of Oral Bacteria in Colorectal Cancer

The oral periodontopathic bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum has been repeatedly associated with colorectal tumors. Molecular analysis has identified specific virulence factors that promote tumorigenesis in the colon. However, other oral community members, such as members of the Porphyromonas spp., are also found with F. nucleatum on colonic tumors, and thus, narrow studies of individual pathogens do not take community-wide virulence properties into account. A broader view of oral bacterial physiology and pathogenesis identifies two factors that could promote colonization and persistence of oral bacterial communities in the colon. The polymicrobial nature of oral biofilms and the asaccharolytic metabolism of many of these species make them well suited to life in the microenvironment of colonic lesions. Consideration of these two factors offers a novel perspective on the role of oral microbiota in the initiation, development, and treatment of colorectal cancer.