• Shuyi Mi, Shangwen Cai, Guochun Lou, and Meng Xue.
• Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No.88 Jiefang Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310009, China.
• Postgrad Med J. 2024 Jun 6.

PurposeThe aim of the present study is to explore the possible association between periodontitis and upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers, including esophageal and gastric cancers, utilizing the Mendelian randomization method.MethodsIn this research, we utilized the Mendelian randomization method to examine the causal association between periodontitis and UGI cancers. Genome-wide association studies data for periodontitis were obtained from the Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Dental Endpoints consortium, while UGI cancers' data were accessed from FinnGen's Biobank. After rigorously screening instrumental variables for periodontitis, we analyzed them with UGI cancers primarily using the inverse variance weighted. Finally, to identify outliers, the results were subjected to a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis.ResultsInverse variance weighted (fixed effect) results revealed that periodontitis is a risk factor for gastric cancer (OR = 1.7735, 95% CI: 1.1576 to 2.7170, P = 0.0085). As for esophageal cancer, no statistically significant correlation was observed. Furthermore, no outliers were detected in any of the results.ConclusionOur two-sample Mendelian randomization study obviously demonstrates a significant positive association between periodontitis and gastric cancer, while no statistically significant correlation was found for esophageal cancer.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.

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