الفهرس 
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Abstract
The rising concept of infection-driven carcinogenesis is gaining an increasing attention within the modern scientific communities. Periodontitis, as an inflammatory disease caused by bacterial infection, has also been extensively studied as possible risk factor for gastrointestinal cancers including oral cancer. Methodology : Using conventional PCR, the presence of two key periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.gingivalis) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (F.nucleatum) was detected in 25 oral cancer fresh tissue specimens versus 25 healthy oral mucosal tissue. PCR amplicons of the electrophoretic gel were semi-quantified using digital image analysis software “ImageJ” for comparison. Results : F.nucleatum showed a bit higher incidence in cancer (72%) than the normal mucosa (64%) with significantly higher estimated loads. P. gingivalis showed significantly higher prevalence in control group. Patients with higher F.nucleatum loads had wider periodontal destruction. Neither bacterial presence nor load has been found to be correlated to tumor progression. Conclusions : The higher incidence and load of the periodontal pathogen, F.nucleatum, in oral cancer than healthy oral tissues indicates a possible role in the disease. These findings are to provide a starting point for investigating its potential use as a biomarker, a prognostic indicator or a therapeutic target.