Tooth loss, pancreatic cancer, and Helicobacter pylori.
BACKGROUND
Poor dental health has been associated with increased risks of oral, esophageal, and gastric cancer and may also be associated with pancreatic cancer. In addition, Helicobacter pylori has been found in dental plaque and has been associated with periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer.


OBJECTIVE
The objective was to investigate prospectively the relation between dentition history and pancreatic cancer in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort in Finland and the association between dentition history and H. pylori seropositivity in a cross-sectional sample of subjects without cancer (n = 475) from the same cohort.


METHODS
Of the 29,104 male smokers aged 50-69 y in the cohort for whom there were complete data, 174 developed pancreatic cancer from 1985 to 1997. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate age-, smoking-, education-, urban living-, and height-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% CIs for pancreatic cancer, and logistic regression models were used to estimate age- and education-adjusted odds ratios for H. pylori carriage.


RESULTS
Tooth loss was positively associated with pancreatic cancer (edentulous compared with missing 0-10 teeth: hazard ratio = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.46; P for trend = 0.02) but was not significantly associated with H. pylori seropositivity (edentulous compared with missing 0-10 teeth: odds ratio = 1.30; 95% CI: 0.73, 2.32; P for trend = 0.37).


CONCLUSIONS
Additional studies are needed to evaluate the association between tooth loss and pancreatic cancer, as well as cancers at other gastrointestinal sites, particularly with respect to possible biological mechanisms.
Stolzenberg-Solomon
Rachael Z
RZ
Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. rs221z@nih.gov
Dodd
Kevin W
KW
Blaser
Martin J
MJ
Virtamo
Jarmo
J
Taylor
Philip R
PR
Albanes
Demetrius
D
D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial