Dietary factors and gastric cancer in Korea: A case‐control study

Abstract

To assess gastric cancer (GC) risk in relation to dietary intake in Korea, a case-control study was performed. Trained dietitians interviewed 136 patients diagnosed with GC, and the same number of controls were selected by matching sex, age and hospital. A significant decrease in GC risk was observed with increased intake of Baiechu kimchi (prepared with salted Chinese cabbage and red pepper, etc.), Baiechu kimchi-stew, garlic, mushroom and soybean milk. On the contrary, a significant increase in the risk of GC was observed with increased intake of cooked rice with bean, charcoal grilled beef, pollack soup, Kkakduki (a kind of kimchi prepared with salted radish and red pepper, etc.), Dongchimi (a kind of kimchi prepared with radish and a large quantity of salt water) and cooked spinach. In food groups, increased intake of soybean products was associated with decreased risk of GC. Intake of citrus fruits rather than total fruits was shown to have a protective effect on the risk of GC, but was not significant. In this study, intake of total vegetables was shown to have a protective effect, whereas high nitratecontaining vegetables increased the risk of GC. In conclusion, our study suggests that the risk of GC decreased with high consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits, whereas high consumption of foods rich in nitrate and carcinogenic substances produced during the cooking process increased the risk of GC. Although gastric cancer (GC) incidence and mortality have been decreasing, it is still 1 of the common cancers around the world. 1 GC is the most common cause of cancer death in Korea. 2 The risk factors of GC are largely environmental, genetic and infection. Being infected with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, 1 of the risk factors of GC, causes inflammation of gastric mucosa. 3 Helicobacter pylori infection per se, however, may not be sufficient to cause GC because there is low GC incidence despite high infection rate of Helicobacter pylori. 4 Among environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, alcohol drinking, smoking, dietary habit and refrigerator use, the dietary factor is 1 of the most important risk factors of GC. Most studies on the relationship between diet and GC have suggested that foods rich in nitrate or nitrite, a high salt diet, smoked meat or fish and a high carbohydrate diet increase the risk of GC, whereas high consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits and dairy products decreases the risk of GC, although the findings are not always consistent. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Dietary habits of Korean people can be characterized as a high intake of salty foods and carbohydrates and a higher intake of cooked rather than fresh vegetables. For this reason, it is necessary to investigate the effect of dietary factors on GC in Korea. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study, which focused on the association of dietary factors and GC in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHODSTrained dietitians interviewed a total of 157 patients highly suspected by endoscopic examination as having GC at Han...

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Modeling of Influential Predictors of Gastric Cancer Incidence Rates in Golestan Province, North Iran

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Diet and the risk of gastric cancer: review of epidemiological evidence

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