This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We hypothesize that bacteria colonize in different proportions at different sites in the oral cavity, bacterial composition at different sites is characteristic for that site, and therapeutic effects can be monitored by measurement of bacterial levels.
Our first aim i s to compare the microbial composition of samples from different oral mucous membrane sites with that found in saliva and plaque, in subjects stratified according to periodontal health and smoking status. We also aim to compare the microbiota found on oral cancer lesions with that found on healthy soft tissues.
Our final aim i s to examine changes in the mucosal microbiota in the cancer subjects during and after a standard protocol of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. No interventions are performed in this study. The primary outcome variables are prevalence, count, and proportion of selected bacterial species from each sample in the different subject groups.
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