Hypotheses for these connections include: Production of carcinogenic molecules like nitrosamines by nitrate-reducing taxa [146,147] or acetaldehyde by ethanol-metabolizing taxa [26,138], increased abundance of cancer-linked viruses like cytomegalovirus and Epstein–Barr virus [148,149], and, perhaps most prominently, increased proinflammatory markers stemming from immune reactions to periodontal disease like cytokines [139] and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) [150]. Here, AGER is linked to cancer.