Tooth count linked to survival following pancreatic cancer surgery
Patients with 21 or more natural teeth had a survival time rate double that of those with 20 or fewer
Natural tooth count serves as a prognostic marker associated with long-term overall survival following treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, researchers have shown.
Oral health is known to be linked to overall health, and research has shown relationships with a variety of diseases. Researchers at Hiroshima University examined the prognostic impact of oral health in patients undergoing resection; the surgical removal of all or part of an organ, as treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the more lethal forms of cancer.
The study comprised 339 patients who underwent radical pancreatectomy – surgery where all or part of the pancreas is removed, occasionally along with parts of other organs – between 2014 and 2022 at Hiroshima University Hospital.
Patients with 21 or more natural teeth had a median overall survival of 60.7 months, whereas those with 20 or fewer teeth had a median survival of only 39.1 months.
The researchers said that as their study was a single-centre study comprising patients of Japanese ethnicity, the next step is to validate these findings through larger multi-centre and international studies.
“Our ultimate goal is to establish a new perspective in pancreatic cancer care,” said Kenichiro Uemura, associate professor at Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences and corresponding author of the study.
“Prognosis may depend not only on tumour biology, but also on the patient’s long-term systemic condition and oral health environment. We hope oral health assessment may eventually become part of personalised risk stratification and peri-operative management for pancreatic cancer patients.”