Abstract 4243: Association of oral health with lung cancer risk: Results from the Southern Community Cohort Study

Abstract

Abstract Increasing evidence suggests that oral health may be associated with cancer and other chronic diseases. Oral bacterial infections, which induce inflammation of the gums and tooth loss, can progress to systemic inflammation. In addition, poor oral health is often the result of smoking and/or limited access to regular dental care. Previous studies have suggested that poor oral health may increase the risk of lung cancer among individuals of European and Asian descent, but the evidence remains elusive. In this nested case-control study, we investigated whether oral health status was associated with lung cancer risk among African Americans and European Americans and whether the association varied by race and smoking habits. A total of 403 incident lung cancer cases and 1,612 matched controls from the Southern Community Cohort Study were included in the current study. The controls were matched to cases on age, sex, race, and recruitment site. Multivariate conditional logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the risk of lung cancer linked to tooth loss, tooth decay, and history of periodontal disease (gingivitis or periodontitis). Stratified analyses were conducted by race, smoking status, and pack-years, and the interactions of these variables with oral health were further evaluated. Tooth loss was significantly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. Compared to those without any loss of teeth, the odds ratio (OR) of loss of >10 teeth was 1.64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-2.69) after adjusting for confounders. Tooth decay was also significantly associated with increased lung cancer risk. Those with ≥ 6 decaying teeth had an OR of 1.65 (95% CI: 1.18-2.31), compared to those with no tooth decay. An increased lung cancer risk was significantly associated with a history of periodontal disease (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.09-1.19). While there was no evidence of interaction by race, the increase in risk associated with tooth loss, tooth decay, and periodontal disease was observed only among smokers who had smoked more than the race-specific median pack-year. Results from our study indicate that poor oral health, as measured by tooth loss, tooth decay, and periodontal disease is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer and that this association is more evident among heavy smokers. Citation Format: Hyung-Suk Yoon, Wanqing Wen, Jirong Long, Wei Zheng, William J. Blot, Qiuyin Cai. Association of oral health with lung cancer risk: Results from the Southern Community Cohort Study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4243.