Study Suggests Periodontal Disease May Augment Risk for Oral Cancer

Periodontal disease is an independent risk factor for development of oral cancer, according to findings from a case control study published in the journal Evidence Based Dentistry.

Recent published systematic reviews have discovered a positive connection between periodontal disease and oral cancer development; however, additional evidence is required to establish a robust causative association between periodontal diseases and oral cancers.

In this study, researchers sought to examine periodontal disease as a non-genetic risk factor for oral cancer. 

A total of 200 patients regardless of periodontal and adverse habits (smoking and alcohol) status between the ages of 18-90 years were included. One hundred patients with histologically confirmed oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) were included in the case group, while the control group was comprised of 100 patients without any oral cancer.

For both the groups, multivariable examination was employed to acquire information regarding socioeconomic and lifestyle risk factors with the use of a questionnaire and the data was compared statistically. Furthermore, data regarding  oral status (periodontal stage, clinical attachment loss, periodontal pocket depth, bleeding on probing, Silness-Loe plaque index, and decayed, missing, and filled teeth [DMFT] index) for both the groups was documented and assessed statistically.

A significant association was discovered between age, gender and development of oral cancer with a considerable correlation between alcohol intake and oral cancer development. Remarkably, in the case group , researchers did not find an association between smoking habits and passive smoking with oral cancer development.

Overall, 72.1% of case group patients were classified as having Stage 4 periodontitis, while 51.6% of control group patients had Stage 2 periodontitis. Researchers noted that there was a considerable association between the incidence of oral cancer and the stage of periodontitis.

“The findings of the study support the hypothesis that periodontitis is an independent risk factor for oral cancer”, concluded the authors.

Reference

Dhingra K. Is periodontal disease a risk factor for oral cancer? Evid Based Dent. 2022;23(1):20-21. doi:10.1038/s41432-022-0245-z