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Study suggests association between HNSCC, dental caries
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Researchers observed an inverse association between head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and dental caries, according to results of a case-control study.
The association persisted among never smokers and never drinkers, researchers wrote.
Researchers set out to assess the association between dental caries — the demineralization of tooth structures by lactic acid from fermentation of carbohydrates by commensal gram-positive bacteria — and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
The study included newly presenting patients at the department of dentistry and maxillofacial prosthetics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute treated between June 1999 and September 2007. Those with a history of cancer, dysplasia or immunodeficiency, as well as those aged younger than 21 years, were excluded.
The final analysis included 399 patients with newly diagnosed primary HNSCC, as well as 221 controls who did not have cancer.
Patients with HNSCC had a significantly lower mean number of teeth with caries (2.04 vs. 1.58; P=.03), crowns (2.10 vs.1.27; P=.01), endodontic treatments (1.01 vs. 0.56; P=.01) and fillings (6.17 vs. 5.39; P=.04) compared with controls. Conversely, those with HNSCC had more missing teeth compared with controls (13.7 vs. 8.50; P<.001).
After adjustments for age at diagnosis, gender, marital status, smoking status and alcohol consumption, patients in the upper tertiles of caries (OR=0.32; 95%CI, 0.19-0.55; P for trend=.001), crowns (OR=0.46; 95% CI, 0.26-0.84; P for trend=.03) and endodontic treatments (OR=0.55; 95% CI, 0.30-1.01; P for trend=.15) were less likely to have HNSCC compared with those in lower tertiles. Researchers observed no significant differences in mean numbers of decayed, missing and filled teeth.
“This study provides insights for future studies to assess potential beneficial effects of lactic acid bacteria and the associated immune response on HNSCC,” the researchers wrote. “Future studies assessing the potential effects of the oral microbiome and associated immune responses on HNSCC will help elucidate the biological mechanism of the clinical association that we have observed in this study.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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