Brushing your teeth regularly and keeping your gums healthy may help protect you against deadly pancreatic cancer. Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center found that two types of bacteria that cause gum disease are also linked to pancreatic cancer.

Microbiomes are the microbial mix in the mouth, and researchers found that men and women whose oral microbiomes included Porphyromonas gingivalis had a 59 percent greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer over the next 10 years than those whose microbiomes did not contain the bacterium.

Similarly, oral microbiomes containing Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans were at least 50 percent more likely overall to develop the disease.

Lead investigator XiaoZhou Fan said both types of bacteria have been tied in the past to such diseases as periodontitis, or inflammation of the gums.

"Our study offers the first direct evidence that specific changes in the microbial mix in the mouth — the oral microbiome — represent a likely risk factor for pancreatic cancer along with older age, male gender, smoking, African-American race, and a family history of the disease," said senior investigator and epidemiologist Jiyoung Ahn, Ph.D.

"These bacterial changes in the mouth could potentially show us who is most at risk of developing pancreatic cancer," Ahn added.

Patients with pancreatic cancer are known to be susceptible to gum disease, cavities, and poor oral health in general, he said, leading researchers to search for direct links between oral bacteria and the disease.

Pancreatic cancer is especially deadly. It causes about 40,000 deaths each year in the U.S., and because it's usually detected when it's advanced, only about 3 percent of its victims survive.

Gum disease has long been linked with heart disease, and recent studies have connected gum disease with additional health problems. British researchers found that the mental decline of Alzheimer's patients with gum disease was six times as fast as those without the disease.

Gum disease has also been linked to another form of cancer. Researchers at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry found the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis in 61 percent of patients with a form of esophageal (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma or ESCC). The bacteria was not found in healthy esophageal tissue.