A new US study established a link between gum disease and breast cancer among postmenopausal women.
A group of researchers from the public health department of the University of Buffalo led by Jo Freudenheim, PhD, revealed that the risk of getting breast cancer tend to correlate with the occurrence of periodontal or gum disease, particularly if such women were known smokers.
The research, which is already published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, looked into the health history of more than 70,000 postmenopausal women who participated in an observational study pertaining to women's health. At the beginning of the said study, these women weren't diagnosed with breast cancer.
When the university researchers zeroed in on their smoking history, they discovered that at least 26% of these women who smoked had gum disease.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gum disease pertains to gum infection caused by the buildup of plaque and germs. As the disease gets worse, the gum separates from the teeth, creating more space where infection can happen.
Smoking has long been identified as a trigger for worse periodontal disease since it lowers the body's immunity, preventing it from fighting off infection. Further, it said that people who smoked had two times the risk of developing gum disease than those who don't and that the length of time a person smokes correlates to the severity of the gum disease.
In the study, around 2,000 of the women who smoked and with gum disease were diagnosed with breast cancer after a follow-up of around six years.
Further, women who smoked but quit for more than two decades prior to the study were found to have an increased risk of up to 8% while those who never smoked but had gum disease may have 6% chance of having breast cancer.
The risk was higher among those who smoked within the last twenty years at 36%. Overall, postmenopausal women who had gum disease could have 14% average chance of having breast cancer.
The study didn't look into any cause and effect, but the researchers hypothesized that bacteria from the gums could find their way into the breast tissues. It's also possible that overall, women who had gum disease also had a poor health due to lack of exercise and bad diet, which may also contribute to the increased risk of breast cancer.
