Tracing the accumulation of in vivo human oral microbiota elucidates microbial community dynamics at the gateway to the GI tract

With great interest we read the article by Gaiser et al 1 that enrichment of oral bacterial taxa in pancreatic cancer highlights the role of oral microbiota. Not coincidentally, the presence of Fusobacterium nucleatum in paired saliva and colon samples of the patients with colorectal cancer has been reported,2 3 raising interest in whether disease starts in the mouth or in the intestine.4–6 Another reason people are interested in oral microbes...