Growing data indicate an association between periodontal disease and the development of cancer. However, the evidence for colorectal cancer has been inconsistent and longitudinal study examining its precursor lesions is lacking. We prospectively collected information on periodontal disease and number of tooth loss in the Nurses' Health Study (1992-2002) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1992-2010). Polyp diagnosis was acquired via self-reported questionnaires and confirmed through review of medical records. We used logistic regression to calculate the multivariate-adjusted ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) with adjustment for smoking and other known risk factors for periodontal disease and colorectal cancer. In this study, we included 17,904 women and 24,582 men. We documented 2,336 cases of serrated polyps and 4,102 cases of conventional adenomas among 84,714 person-endoscopies throughout follow-up. The ORs of serrated polyps and conventional adenomas comparing individuals with and without periodontal disease were 1.17 (95% CI, 1.06-1.29) and 1.11 (95% CI, 1.02-1.19), respectively. Compared with participants without tooth loss, those who lost ≥4 teeth had 20% (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.03-1.39) greater risk of serrated polyps (P trend 0.01). Among never smokers, similar associations with periodontal disease were observed for both serrated polyps (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02-1.41) and conventional adenomas (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.00-1.26). History of periodontal disease and possibly higher number of tooth loss may modestly increase the risk of developing colorectal precursor lesions. Our findings advance our understanding of the interplay between oral health, microbiome, and early colorectal carcinogenesis.
©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.