Teeth and cancer connection

Brush and floss may do more than help you keep your pearly whites. It could save your life.

Gum and tooth troubles have been linked to everything from heart disease to preterm birth and now scientists are finding evidence of a cancer connection. Taking care of your teeth and gums may help ward off one of the deadliest cancers.

"What we identify here is a small tumor in the tail of the pancreas"

When Harvard researchers analyzed 16 years of health information on more than 50 thousand men, gum disease stood out as a risk factor for pancreatic cancer.

"We found that individuals with a history of periodontal disease had about a 60% increase in their risk of getting pancreatic cancer."

Even after researchers factored out smoking, obesity, diabetes and other potential risks.

The scientists speculate that the chronic inflammation caused by gum disease may play a role. More studies are planned to confirm the link and to see if there's an oral health connection to other cancers.

"There?s a lot of good reason to take good care of your teeth and here's another one."

Don't forget to floss. Helen Chickering NBC News.

Men who had both gum disease and tooth loss had the highest risk for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. More than 30,000 Americans are expected to die from the disease this year.

The research was conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health.

A preliminary report was presented in November at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting.

Dr. Dominique s. Michaud of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston and colleagues analyzed 16 years of health data on nearly 52,000 male doctors in the health professionals follow-up study.

This ongoing study, initiated in 1986, is looking at lifestyle factors related to cancer and other chronic diseases.

216 men developed pancreatic cancer during follow-up. After factoring out smoking, diabetes, obesity, physical activity, diet and other potentially confounding factors, men with a history of gum disease had a 63-percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer relative to men without periodontal disease.

Michaud's team also found that men with gum disease and recent tooth loss had a 2.7-fold increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with those who reported neither gum disease nor tooth loss.

Gum disease results in chronic inflammation over many years, they explain, and people with gum disease harbor high levels of harmful bacteria in the mouth and gut and tend to have higher amounts of cancer-causing nitrosamines.

Pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of death from cancer death in the United States, is one of the most deadly cancers, largely because it is often not detected until it has spread beyond the pancreas.

Only about 5% of pancreatic cancer patients survive the first five years after being diagnosed.