Teeth Loss and Risk of Cancer at 14 Common Sites in Japanese

Abstract

Background: Tooth loss has been associated with a higher risk of several types of cancer. To clarify the significance of tooth loss to the risk of 14 common cancers, we conducted a large-scale, case-control study based on the Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program at Aichi Cancer Center. Methods: A total of 5,240 cancer subjects and 10,480 ageand sex-matched noncancer controls were recruited. Patients with 14 types of cancer newly diagnosed from 2000 to 2005 were eligible as case subjects, and new outpatients without cancer in the same time period were eligible as controls. Tooth loss was categorized into four groups: group 1, number of remaining teeth, z21; group 2, 9 to 20; group 3, 1 to 8; and group 4, 0. The effect of tooth loss was assessed as odds ratios (OR)

Association Between Tooth Loss and Cancer Mortality in Elderly Individuals

“…A case-control study conducted in Japan showed that a decreased number of remaining teeth was associated with the incidence of prostate cancer with a lower odds ratio (OR) of 0.49 (95%CI, 0.19-1.26) (Hiraki et al, 2008), while a similar finding was reported in follow-up investigation of the US male health professionals study . The multivariate HR value reported in that study was 0.7 (95%CI, 0.50-0.97) for subjects with 0-16 teeth vs. those with 25-32 teeth.…”

“…The case-control study was based on a Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program in Japan, and investigated associations between tooth loss and incidence rates of 14 common cancers. Although the risk for total cancer was not described, their findings showed that a greater number of missing teeth was associated with increased risks of head and neck, esophageal, and lung cancers, and decreased risk of prostate cancer (Hiraki et al, 2008). Also, for head and neck and esophageal cancers, stratified analyses by sex and age showed clear associations between tooth loss and cancer risk in women and younger subjects, but less clear associations in men and older subjects.…”

“…One is a case-control study conducted in Japan (Hiraki et al, 2008), and the other 2 are prospective cohort studies showing an association between tooth loss and cancer mortality (Abnet et al, 2005;Ansai et al, 2010). The case-control study was based on a Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program in Japan, and investigated associations between tooth loss and incidence rates of 14 common cancers.…”

“…However, scant information regarding those associations in Asian populations is available. One report noted a significant association between tooth loss and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese cohort (Abnet et al, 2001), while Hiraki et al reported a significant positive association between tooth loss and risk of head and neck and esophageal cancers in a Japanese population after adjustment for potential confounders in a case-control study (Hiraki et al, 2008).…”

“…A recent Japanese case-control study investigated the associations between tooth loss and other cancers (Hiraki et al, 2008), and reported no significant associations for cancers of the colon, liver, breast, uterus, ovary, bladder, thyroid, and lymphoma. Another report conducted in the United States found showed no significant associations between tooth loss and oropharyngeal, colorectal, kidney, bladder, hematopoietic, and brain cancers .…”