Association between periodontal disease and prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background Periodontal disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by bacterial infection which may lead to various systematic diseases. Recently, increasing studies have explored the correlation of periodontal disease with the risk of prostate cancer. However, the findings were inconsistent. Hence, this study aims to investigate the association between periodontal disease and the risk of prostate cancer by a meta-analysis. Material and Methods PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane were searched for publications up to July 17, 2020. Cohort and case-control studies evaluating the risk of prostate cancer in patients with periodontal disease were included. A fixed or random-effect model was used to calculate the summary relative risk (RR) along with 95% confidence interval (CI). All analyses were conducted using Stata 12.0 software. Results Seven studies were included in the final analysis. The pooled estimates showed that periodontal disease was significantly associated with the risk of prostate cancer (RR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.07-1.27; P = 0.001). Findings of sensitivity analyses proved that the overall results were robust. Conclusions Periodontal disease may be considered as a potential risk factor for prostate cancer. Although it’s a possibility, males should be more aware of their oral health and implement effective measures to prevent and treat periodontal disease. Key words:Periodontal disease, periodontitis, prostate cancer, meta-analysis