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. 2019 Jun;6(2):130-137.
doi: 10.1007/s40496-019-0213-7. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Oral Health and Cancer

Mei Chung  1 , Benjamin R York  1 , Dominique S Michaud  1
Affiliations

Oral Health and Cancer

Mei Chung et al. Curr Oral Health Rep. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Recently published studies have provided new evidence for a role of oral health on risk of cancer. This review summarizes the latest research on this topic, including several new cohort studies that have examined associations on periodontal disease and cancer risk.

Recent findings: The most consistent findings for associations with periodontal disease have been observed for lung cancer; five out of seven studies have reported statistically significant increases in risk of lung cancer. For pancreatic, colorectal and head and neck cancers, the associations are less consistent across studies, and the overall summary relative risk estimates are not statistically significant. However, these associations remain of interest, given the limitations of existing data (i.e., measurement error in periodontal disease assessment and small sample sizes), and growing support for biological mechanisms on how bacteria previously linked to periodontal disease may play a role in carcinogenesis.

Summary: Future studies need improved assessment of periodontal disease in population- based studies to determine if heterogeneity of current studies resides with measurement error. Periodontal disease treatment and prevention may turn out to be important targetable cancer prevention strategies.

Keywords: Fusobacterium nucleatum; Porphyromonas gingivalis; colorectal cancer; head and neck cancer; lung cancer; pancreatic cancer; periodontal disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Mei Chung, Benjamin R. York, and Dominique S. Michaud each declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Meta-analysis of associations between periodontal disease and lung cancer in cohort studies Legends: PD = periodontal disease; RR = relative risks; *ARIC study reported compared moderate to no/mild PD and severe to no/mild PD. The random-effects meta-analysis did not adjust for the correlation between the two adjusted RRs in ARIC study; and thus, the pooled estimate was slightly inflated.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Meta-analysis of associations between periodontal disease and colorectal cancer in cohort studies Legends: PD = periodontal disease; RR = relative risks; *ARIC study reported compared mild, moderate, or severe PD to no PD. The random-effects meta-analysis did not adjust for the correlations among the three adjusted RRs in ARIC study; and thus, the pooled estimate was slightly inflated
Figure 3
Figure 3
Meta-analysis of associations between periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer in cohort studies Legends: RR = relative risks
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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