Abstract 858: Periodontal bone loss and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study

Abstract

Abstract Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory reaction to dysbiotic oral microbiota, is common in the adult population in the United States. It is associated with increased risk of several medical conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, and potentially with lung, oral and pancreatic cancer. One of the proposed mechanisms behind these associations is systemic inflammation, which has also been implied in ovarian cancer etiology. We investigated association between periodontal bone loss, a marker of periodontitis, and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer among 60,560 participants of the Nurses’ Health Study. We did not observe an increased risk of ovarian cancer among participants suffering from periodontal bone loss (HR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.64-1.15). Association was unchanged after adjusting for numerous factors including smoking. Among women younger than 69 years periodontal bone loss was associated with a 40% (HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36-0.98) decreased ovarian cancer risk, while there was no association in those older than 69 (HR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.75-1.58), although this difference did not reach a statistical significance (p-heterogeneity = 0.06). There also was a suggestive decreased risk for serous tumors (HR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.53-1.09). The number of natural teeth and number of root canals, which are other metrics of oral health, were not associated with ovarian cancer risk. Our results do not support an increased risk of ovarian cancer for women with periodontal bone loss; however, given the unexpected associations in younger women, further research is warranted. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Ana Babic, Elizabeth M. Poole, Kathryn L. Terry, Daniel W. Cramer, Ricardo P. Teles, Shelley S. Tworoger. Periodontal bone loss and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 858. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-858