Macronutrients, fatty acids and cholesterol intake and stomach cancer risk.

BACKGROUND

Several case-control studies have examined the association between intake of selected macronutrients and stomach cancer, with inconsistent results regarding total energy, proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

METHODS

We considered the relation between total energy, various macronutrients and fatty acids and gastric cancer using data from a case-control study conducted in northern Italy. Cases were 230 patients with incident, histologically confirmed stomach cancer. Controls were 547 frequency-matched patients, admitted to the same hospitals as cases for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Logistic regression models conditioned on age and sex and adjusted for selected covariates were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) of stomach cancer.

RESULTS

The multivariate ORs were 0.65 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43-0.98] for the highest versus lowest tertile of vegetable fats and 0.66 (95% CI 0.44-0.97) for polyunsaturated fatty acids. No significant association was found for proteins, sugars, starch, total and animal fats, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, our study indicates that selected vegetable fats have a favorable effect on stomach cancer risk.