Risk of breast cancer in people with periodontal disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Keywords:
breast cancer, meta-analysis, oral health, periodontal disease, periodontitisAbstract
Introduction: Periodontal disease (PD) has been associated with the incidence of chronic systemic diseases, including breast cancer (BC). However, studies on their association have shown inconsistent results.
Objective: To evaluate the risk of BC in people with PD.
Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines in Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar was performed. Any observational study evaluating BC risk in people with and without PD was included. Study quality assessment was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Fixed- or random-effects model meta-analyses were used and the results were reported as relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). All statistical analyses were performed using Stata version 17.0 software.
Results: Fifteen observational studies involving 816,219 female participants were included. There was a 22% increased risk of BC in people with PD (RR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.10-1.35; p = 0.0001; I2 = 89.80%). Subgroup analysis showed consistent and significant results when stratified by sample size and follow-up period. This meta-analysis was robust based on sensitivity analysis; however, it should be interpreted with caution due to its high heterogeneity.
Conclusions: The risk of BC is increased in people with PD. Future studies are needed to evaluate the effect of periodontal treatment on reducing the risk of BC.
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