Association between tooth loss and survival in gastric cancer patients

ObjectiveTo examine the association between tooth loss and the risk of gastric cancer mortality among gastric cancer cases.MethodsA prospective study was conducted with a 24-year follow-up among the subjects of Linxian Population General Cohort Study.Via Cox proportional hazards regression,the association between tooth loss and gastric cancer mortality was examined.ResultsIn a 5-year follow up analysis,tooth loss was not associated with an elevated risk of gastric cancer mortality after controlling for potential confounders.In the 15-year and 24-year follow up analyses,tooth loss was not associated with gastric cancer survival.Tooth loss was divided into three groups(light,medium,and severe)for further analysis,which were not associated with the survival of gastric cancer cases with the 5-year survival rates of 26.79%,18.28%,and 17.61% in the three groups,respectively.There were significanct differences in the survival rate of gastric cancer among three groups(χ²=21.521,P<0.001).ConclusionIn this cohort,tooth loss did not significantly increase the risk of gastric cancer mortality.