Dietary Factors Linked With Gastric Cancer Risk Identified

Consumption of total fruit and white vegetables, as well as other dietary factors, may contribute to risk of gastric cancer, according to a meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Cancer.¹

Chinese researchers led by Xuexian Fang of Zhejiang University looked at 76 cohort studies gathered through Medline, Embase, and Web of Science up to June 2015 in order to determine any association between dietary factors and gastric cancer risk.

They identified 32 758 cases of gastric cancer in relation to 67 dietary factors during 3.3 to 30 years of follow-up.

The researchers found that consumption of total fruit and white vegetables, but not total vegetables, was inversely associated with risk of gastric cancer. The researchers noted that fruit and white vegetables are rich sources of vitamin C, which was found to have a significant protective effect against gastric cancer.

Additionally, high-salt foods as well as alcohol consumption that included beer and liquor, but not wine, were also found to have positive associations with gastric cancer risk, with dose-response analysis showing that risk increased by 12% per 5 g/day increment of dietary salt intake or 5% per 10 g/day increment of alcohol consumption.

“Our findings may have significant public health implications with regard to prevention of gastric cancer and provide insights into future cohort studies and the design of related clinical trials,” the authors concluded.

Reference

1. Fang X, Wei J, He X, et al. Landscape of dietary factors associated with risk of gastric cancer: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies [published online ahead of print November 14, 2015]. Eur J Cancer. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2015.09.010.