ArticleOtolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery2025
Altered Bacteria Abundance Is Associated With Outcomes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Article in Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis reveals enrichment of pro-inflammatory and bacterial immunity-modulating taxa in oral squamous cell carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- The microbial conductor of cancer hallmarks: intratumoral microbiome as a multidimensional oncogenic modulator.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine if microbiome differences exist in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) based on high-risk pathologic features, smoking, and outcomes using The Cancer Microbiome Atlas (TCMA). STUDY
designDatabase study.
settingDatabase review.
methodsTCMA is a publicly available database containing curated, decontaminated microbial profiles for tumors from 1772 patients. The data were limited to microbiome profiles, survival, and clinicopathologic features for HNSCC patients. Phyloseq objects were created, low-read samples were removed, and differential abundance analysis (DAA) using Analysis of Compositions of Microbiomes with Bias Correction 2 (ANCOM-BC2) was performed. Statistical analysis was done in R (v4.3.1).
resultsOne hundred fifty-six patients with HNSCC were included from TCMA with a mean age of 59 (std 13, min 19, and max 90), 72% male (n = 113), and 91% white (n = 140). Primary sites encompassed oral cavity (n = 106, 68%), oropharynx (n = 26, 17%), and larynx/hypopharynx (n = 24, 15%). For all HNSCC in TCMA, rates of lymphovascular invasion were 17% (n = 26), perineural invasion, 34% (n = 53), and microscopic or gross extranodal extension (ENE), 19% (n = 30). DAA revealed significant changes in bacterial genera based on high-risk pathologic features, smoking status, vital status, and disease-specific survival (DSS). Genera observed with ANCOM-BC2 include Scardovia, Alloscardovia, Lactobacillus, and Corynebacterium genera for vital status and DSS.
conclusionChanges in the relative abundance of select intratumoral bacterial genera are associated with adverse pathologic features, DSS, and vital status in HNSCC. Shifts in the microbiome need further investigation to determine if they can provide any mechanistic insight or predictive role.
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