Published online Feb 27, 2024. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i2.585
Peer-review started: November 2, 2023
First decision: November 30, 2023
Revised: December 26, 2023
Accepted: January 29, 2024
Article in press: January 29, 2024
Published online: February 27, 2024
Processing time: 115 Days and 0.3 Hours
In recent years, the association between oral health and the risk of gastric cancer (GC) has gradually attracted increased interest. However, in terms of GC incidence, the association between oral health and GC incidence remains controversial. Periodontitis is reported to increase the risk of GC. However, some studies have shown that periodontitis has no effect on the risk of GC. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess whether there is a relationship between oral health and the risk of GC.
To assess whether there was a relationship between oral health and the risk of GC.
Five databases were searched to find eligible studies from inception to April 10, 2023. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score was used to assess the quality of included studies. The quality of cohort studies and case-control studies were evaluated separately in this study. Incidence of GC were described by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Funnel plot was used to represent the publication bias of included studies. We performed the data analysis by StataSE 16.
A total of 1431677 patients from twelve included studies were enrolled for data analysis in this study. According to our analysis, we found that the poor oral health was associated with higher risk of GC (OR = 1.15, 95%CI: 1.02-1.29; I2 = 59.47%, P = 0.00 < 0.01). Moreover, after subgroup analysis, the outcomes showed that whether tooth loss (OR = 1.12, 95%CI: 0.94-1.29; I2 = 6.01%, P > 0.01), gingivitis (OR = 1.19, 95%CI: 0.71-1.67; I2 = 0.00%, P > 0.01), dentures (OR = 1.27, 95%CI: 0.63-1.19; I2 = 68.79%, P > 0.01), or tooth brushing (OR = 1.25, 95%CI: 0.78-1.71; I2 = 88.87%, P > 0.01) had no influence on the risk of GC. However, patients with periodontitis (OR = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.04-1.23; I2 = 0.00%, P < 0.01) had a higher risk of GC.
Patients with poor oral health, especially periodontitis, had a higher risk of GC. Patients should be concerned about their oral health. Improving oral health might reduce the risk of GC.
Core Tip: The aim of this current study was to assess whether there was a relationship between oral health and the risk of gastric cancer (GC). A total of 1431677 patients from twelve included studies were enrolled for data analysis in this study. This article summarised all the papers over the years on the relationship between oral health and the incidence of GC. After analysing them, the existing controversies were resolved to some extent. It was useful to guide clinical work.