How does gum disease affect cancer risk?

A Harvard University School of Public Health study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, uncovered a strong correlation of advanced gum disease in men to a 63% higher incidence of pancreatic cancer. A research report in the prestigious journal, Lancet Oncology, confirmed that cancer risk increases when gum disease is present. Even the presence of moderate gum disease contributed to an overall 14% increased risk of cancer. These include lung, kidney and blood cancers in both smokers and non-smokers.

A British and American research team at Imperial College in London and Harvard University studied the statistical health records of 50,000 patients from data collected over 21 years. There was a 33% increase in the risk of lung cancer, 50% rise in the risk of kidney cancer, and a 30% higher incidence of blood cancers, such as leukemia, among those with gum disease. Chronic advanced gum disease was the most frightening -- with an additional fourfold increase in head and neck cancer for each millimeter of related bone loss around teeth.