Dental health in patients with and without HPV-positive oropharyngeal and tongue cancer

BackgroundHuman papilloma virus is associated with oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Our aim was to examine oral health in patients with oropharyngeal (OPSCC) and oral tongue cancer (OTSCC), expecting better oral health among OPSCC patients.Material and methodsFifty-five OPSCC patients with known HPV status and 59 OTSCC patients were randomly selected from a list of consecutive patients of the Helsinki University Hospital, Finland. Oral health was assessed from panoramic jaw radiographs. Total Dental Index (TDI) summarizing the dental health status was calculated and Finnish population study data were used for comparison. Descriptive statistics were used for analyses.ResultsPatients with HPV-positive OPSCC had higher periapical lesion index compared with HPV-negative OPSCC patients or with OTSCC patients. Residual roots were more common among OPSCC patients compared with OTSCC patients, because of their higher occurrence among HPV-negative OPSCC patients compared with OTSCC patients. Similarly, modified TDI score was significantly higher among OPSCC patients than among OTSCC patients, because of higher TDI score among HPV-negative OPSCC patients compared with OTSCC patients. OPSCC patients more often used a removable prosthesis than OTSCC patients. Dental health of the cancer patients was poorer when compared with the population data.ConclusionsOur study hypothesis was only partly confirmed. Periapical lesions were more prevalent among HPV-positive OPSCC patients, compared with the other groups. The number of residual roots was higher among HPV-negative subgroup. Thus, OPSCC patients had worse oral health parameters than OTSCC patients.Peer reviewe

Oral health in oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients at diagnosis

Background: Some oral health factors have been associated with a higher risk for head and neck cancers (HNCs) and most clearly the existing evidence refers to an association between periodontitis and HNC. Aims: To examine oral health in a subset of HNC patients, namely patients with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) or oral cavity cancer (OCC), and to compare these two tumor sites in this regard. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective study consisting of a series of OPC and OCC patients diagnosed between 2005-2008 at the Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Study subjects were randomly selected from hospital registries. Oral health at diagnosis was assessed by reviewing the corresponding panoramic radiographs. We used modified Total Dental Index (Mattila et al. 1989) to assess oral health as a whole. Results: In univariate analysis the difference in modified Total Dental Index (mean 3,49 ±0,20 for OPC vs. 2,85 ±0,22 for OCC) was statistically significant, but after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, and heavy alcohol consumption statistical significance was lost. When individual dental variables were considered, the only statistically significant difference in univariate analysis was found concerning residual roots (mean 0,60 ±0,21 for OPC vs. 0,19 ±0,15 for OCC). Conclusions: The present findings demonstrate a fairly poor oral health status among oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients. The observed prevalence of caries and periodontitis seems to be even more common than among the Finnish general population. Whether or not there are differences in oral health risk factors between OPC and OCC patients cannot be reliably established in this study. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings either way

Baseline clinic-pathological characteristics of the patients with oropharyngeal (OPSCC) or oral tongue (OTSCC) squamous cell carcinoma.

Baseline clinic-pathological characteristics of the patients with oropharyngeal (OPSCC) or oral tongue (OTSCC) squamous cell carcinoma.</p

Dental indexes of the study population with oropharyngeal (OPSCC) and oral tongue (OTSCC) squamous cell carcinoma.

Dental indexes of the study population with oropharyngeal (OPSCC) and oral tongue (OTSCC) squamous cell carcinoma.</p