Periodontitis may be linked to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer, emphasizing the importance of treating gum disease to reduce related systemic inflammation. This study was recently published in BMC Oral Health.
Furthermore, among patients with periodontitis, males and older adults appeared to show a higher rate of pancreatic cancer, the authors wrote.
“Effective management of periodontitis, particularly among high-risk populations, may help mitigate systemic inflammatory effects linked to pancreatic cancer,” wrote the authors, led by Ya-Hsin Li of the Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan (BMC Oral Health, November 29, 2025, Vol. 25, 1856).
The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2000 to 2019. They compared patients diagnosed with periodontitis to matched controls without the condition. The NHIRD includes demographic, medical, and hospital information for nearly all residents of Taiwan, they wrote.
In total, 428,814 patients with periodontitis and their matched controls were analyzed and followed until their pancreatic cancer diagnosis, death, or the end of 2019. Risk factors assessed included age, gender, income, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores, and other medical data.
Although periodontitis patients did not show a significant increase in pancreatic cancer risk compared with controls (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96 to 1.22), subgroup analyses revealed higher risks in certain groups. Patients ages 45 to 64 had a 4.43-fold higher risk, and those over 65 years old had a 9.18-fold higher risk compared with individuals ages 21 to 44 (95% CIs: 3.68 to 5.33 and 7.43 to 11.3), they wrote.
Additionally, men had a higher risk than women (hazard ratio = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.34). Furthermore, pancreatic cancer risk increased with greater periodontitis outpatient visit frequency, rising to 2.59 at 0.4 to 0.7 visits and 4.83 at more than 0.7 visits (95% CI: 2.06 to 3.26 and 3.57 to 6.55), and patients with a CCI score of greater than 1 had a 1.56-fold higher risk than those with a score of 0 (95% CI: 1.23-1.98).
The study, however, had limitations. Since the study is restricted to Taiwanese data, its external validity may be limited, the authors added.
“Further studies are warranted to clarify the underlying mechanisms and inform targeted prevention strategies,” Li and colleagues concluded.
