Diet, Oral Microbiome and Chronic Inflammation: Shared Pathways in Oral Cancer and Cardiometabolic Disease

Periodontal disease and the oral microbiome are increasingly implicated in two disease areas usually studied separately: cardiometabolic disease and oral cancer. Chronic low-grade inflammation and oral microbiome dysbiosis, substantially shaped by diet, are established mechanistic links between periodontitis and cardiometabolic outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A growing, though less consolidated, evidence base also implicates specific periodontal pathogens (e.g., Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum) and sustained oral inflammation in oral and head and neck carcinogenesis. Despite this mechanistic overlap, oral cancer and cardiometabolic disease research have largely proceeded along separate disciplinary tracks, with few studies examining diet, oral microbiome dysbiosis and inflammation as a shared upstream axis across both outcomes.This Research Topic aims to bring together evidence on diet, the oral microbiome and chronic inflammation as shared, modifiable drivers of both oral cancer and cardiometabolic disease. Much current literature treats these as unrelated downstream consequences of periodontal disease, which obscures mechanistic overlap and limits translational opportunities in oral healthcare. We aim to consolidate evidence on the microbial and inflammatory pathways connecting periodontitis to carcinogenesis and to cardiometabolic dysfunction; to clarify where associations are supported by longitudinal or mechanistic data as opposed to cross-sectional observation alone; and to identify gaps that dietary and oral-microbiome-targeted interventions could address. By foregrounding a shared-mechanism framework, this collection aims to support more integrated approaches to oral cancer risk assessment and cardiometabolic prevention in dental and medical practice, and to set a research agenda for studies that measure oral, inflammatory and cardiometabolic outcomes concurrently in the same populations.We welcome contributions examining periodontal pathogens, oral microbiome dysbiosis and chronic oral inflammation in relation to oral, head and neck, and other cancers, and to cardiometabolic outcomes including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. Relevant themes include:• mechanistic and preclinical studies of periodontal-pathogen-driven carcinogenesis; • epidemiological and cohort studies linking periodontitis to cancer or cardiometabolic risk;• dietary and microbiome-targeted intervention trials with inflammatory, oral or cardiometabolic endpoints;• and clinical or health-services perspectives on integrating oral cancer screening and cardiometabolic risk assessment into dental care. Topic editors: Thilini Nilusha Jayasinghe, Cher Farrugia Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86388/diet-oral-microbiome-and-chronic-inflammation-shared-pathways-in-oral-cancer-and-cardiometabolic-disease