You may soon be able to walk and chew cancer-fighting gum at the same time.
Researchers have bioengineered chewing gum to attack three microbes linked to oral cancer, including human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted infection. It was 93% effective in reducing the virus in saliva samples.
The research team, led by University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine professor Henry Daniell, set out to find an antiviral protein that can bind and destroy different viruses.
They found that the hyacinth bean, also called a lablab bean, contains the FRIL protein, which causes viruses to clump together, preventing them from entering a cell. The protein also can block viruses already inside a cell, thwarting further infection.
“We have at least five different viruses in the oral cavity that we have been able to neutralize,” Daniell told The Post.
Daniell said the gum, which contains the amount of bean powder necessary to effectively fight these viruses, costs pennies to develop.
“That’s probably the biggest advantage of this — it’s going to be absolutely low cost,” he said.
Daniell said the team is awaiting FDA approval to move on to the next part of clinical trials, where researchers would directly administer the gum to human subjects. The trial would last four weeks and patients would chew the gum three times a day.
At this stage, the gum is used as an adjunct therapy alongside typical cancer treatments such as radiation therapy and surgery. But in the future, Daniell noted, the gum could be available over-the-counter.
“The goal is not (for) the patients to choose between these treatments because this is the natural treatment,” Daniell said. “This is addressing the microbiome side of cancer.”
