A piece of chewing gum may sound out of place in a cancer lab. Yet in this case, it became the delivery system for two plant-based compounds. These were aimed at something doctors often struggle to control: the microbes tied to head and neck cancer. Researchers led by Henry Daniell of the UPenn School of Dental Medicine tested extracts from a bioengineered chewing gum against oral samples from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC. The gum was built from lablab bean powder and carried two active ingredients, FRIL, a naturally antiviral protein, and protegrin-1, an antimicrobial peptide. Together, they sharply cut levels of three microbes linked to these cancers. These microbes are human papilloma virus, known as HPV, and the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. That matters because HNSCC is a common cancer that forms in the lining of the mouth and throat. It can be aggressive, and outcomes are often poor when it is found late. Daniell said many recently approved cancer drugs have not made a major difference …