Winner: Samer Karkout Runner-Up: Ahmed Abbas Predicting Oral Cancer Outcomes Samer Karkout of McGill was awarded first prize for his research on predicting survival outcomes of oral cancer patients, a study that compared two comorbidity indices: the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification. “Oral cancer is a global issue, with many thousands being diagnosed all over the world,” Karkout says in an interview on CDA Oasis. “The challenge is that many of these patients do not solely have cancer... it often comes with other medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes,” says Karkout. These comorbidities impact treatment, recovery and survival. Karkout and his collaborators’ study sought to determine which index (ASA or CCI) was a better predictor of survival outcomes in oral cancer patients. Using data from the Montreal General Hospital, the study looked at 348 oral cancer patient cases, categorizing patients by comorbidity scores after stratifying cases. When comparing outcomes, Karkout’s study found that the CCI consistently outperformed the ASA classification. “The CCI had a wider and earlier separation between the two groups, indicating that it might be a better predictor than ASA for overall survivability,” he explains. The CCI remained effective after major treatments such as radiotherapy and surgery, while the ASA score lost its predictive power. “This indicates for us is that CCI may be a reliable tool that we can use to predict survivability for our patients with oral cancer across different treatment modalities,” he says. For Karkout, these findings could help with better cancer patient outcomes. “We want to refine this tool and see how it could be personalized towards patients,” he says. “How can we make it more specific to oral cancer to individualize treatment therapies to our patients so they benefit the most?” This reflects the rise of precision medicine over universal treatment models, emphasizing the importance of using medical data to enhance overall patient care. Connecting Gums, Aging, and the Body From a different perspective, Ahmed Abbas, a fourth-year dental student from Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, explored the systemic links between periodontal disease and biological aging. His study, Moderate to Severe Periodontitis Contributes to Accelerated Biological Aging in MiddleAged and Older Canadians with Multimorbidity, examined how gum disease interacts with chronic illnesses to accelerate the aging process. “This project was many years in the making,” Abbas explains. “Our research group has been looking at epigenetics and aging and the relationship between periodontitis and overall health,” he says. “I would also like to acknowledge my mentor, Dr. Noha Gomaa, whose steadfast mentorship, support, and guidance throughout my four years of dental school were indispensable to this research and beyond,” says Abbas. With individual diseases such as cardiovascular, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s, it was crucial to understand periodontitis’ impact in the context of multimorbidities. “We wanted to see how periodontitis associates with a combination of chronic conditions, because we know that periodontitis has an underlying mechanism of inflammation which can spread all over the body,” says Abbas. That inflammation can become a self-perpetuating cycle: “The inflammatory mechanism can accelerate how people age, and faster aging can lead to even further inflammation,” says Abbas. “As dentists, we need to understand more about how periodontitis relates to other chronic conditions to help us manage our patients and deal with general inflammation of the body.” Using data from the 2007-09 Canadian Health Measures Survey, his team analyzed over 1,000 participants over age 45. “When we combine multimorbidity and periodontitis,” Abbas explains, “those patients who had showed both had about a 20 to 40% increased prevalence of having accelerated aging.” The findings highlight the importance of dental care as part of holistic health management, particularly for aging populations. “This helps dentistry because as providers, we can know our population better,” Abbas says. “Our research gives us a better picture of how periodontitis, multimorbidity, and aging interact and this can guide further research.” Hear more from the two winners on CDA Oasis at: bit.ly/4oSR1ju 10 | 2025 | Issue 6
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