Effect of Dietary Factors in the Etiology of Stomach Cancer

Park, Hye Sung; Kim, Hyun Sook; Choi, Soo Yong; Chung, Cha Kwon

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Stomach cancer is the most malignant neoplasm among Koreans. There ane a number of epidemiological studies on dietary factors of stomach cancer in many countries. However, analytical studies on Korean dietary factors are very scarce.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A case-control study was conducted at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital in Seoul between April and September in 1996. One hundred twenty-six stomach cancer patients confirmed by the histological diagnosis were compared with 234 control subjects matched by age, sex, and admission date. A food frequency questionnaire asking the consumption frequency of 85 selected food items was used to gather the information from all subjects via a face-to-face interview. Multiple logistic regression models were used to estimate relative risks when controlling simultaneously for covariates.
RESULTS
An increased risk of stomach cancer was noted among those with low economic status, fast eating rate, high eating out, hot-temperature soup preference, salt preference, cucumber Kimchi intake, use of pickled fish in Kimchi. Intake of garlic, green onion, tofu, mung bean pancake, acorn-starch paste, starch vermicelli with mixed vegetables, total fruits, citrus fruits, cabbage, green peppers, spinach, mushrooms and total meat appeared to be protective. Stomach cancer risk was not associated with intake of rice, dairy product, fishes, condiments, coffee, tea, and the cooking methods. These data suggested that the high intake of salt and smoked or pickled food may be associated with a hig risk of stomach cancer, and this association could be due to a intragastric formation of nitrosamines. The negative association with fruits and some vegetable consumption may be due to the inhibition of nitrosation process.
CONCLUSION
Our findings indicated that dietary factors contributed to stomach cancer occurrence in Korea, and this may offer clues for further ethnical and prevention research.