Functional appraisal of oral microbes in oscc progression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignancy, representing up to 80% to 90% of all malignant neoplasms of the oral cavity. The role of microbes in association with the host is known to promote cancer progression, which is considered a prominent risk factor for oral OSCC. In view of a recent systematic review on microbial involvement, a proficient conclusion was derived associating microbes in OSCC progression. Objective Identification of most relevant microbial species associated in OSCC progression using statistical meta-analysis. Methods A preliminary search was primed through different literature databases including PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane for a systematic review by using different MeSH terminologies for microbial association with OSCC progression. A meta-analysis was done to identify statistically significant bacterial species. Results Results of this analysis presented the forest plots with statistically evaluated odds ratios and confidence intervals for each considered bacterial concentration. According to the results, no single or clustered microbial entity evaluated could confirm its significant association with OSCC progression. This could be because of a lack of qualitative and quantitative data and needs extensive evaluation using throughput research techniques. Conclusions The observations of the bacterial risk factors of OSCC through meta-analysis have been concluded with the identification of statistically insignificant association of microbes with OSCC progression. But, among those possibly consistent species, Prevotella melaninogenica might play a sensitive role in propagating OSCC progression.