New risk factor identified for pancreatic cancer
`Although advances in oncology have brought therapies to deal with many different cancers, pancreatic cancer remains very difficult to treat. Worse yet, unlike lung cancer and smoking, or cervical cancer and HPV, little has been known about the etiology of the disease. Now a new study has revealed a link between pancreatic cancer and a relatively common infection, one that many people might find surprising: gum disease.
The link arose from data gathered from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. This long-running study began two decades ago and involves men working in health-care professions returning a survey every two years. As it turns out, after controlling for age, BMI, smoking and other factors, periodontal disease carried a 63 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer.’
