SALT AND GASTRIC-CANCER - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY IN PUERTO-RICO

A total of 136 incident intestinal type gastric cancer cases and 151 a ge-comparable population controls were interviewed in Puerto Rico abou t their dietary habits with special emphasis on dietary salt consumpti on. All interviews were conducted at home using a quantitative dietary frequency instrument. The weekly intake of foods was estimated from t he reported frequency of consumption and portion size according to a f ood model. The dietary salt exposure was estimated from the intake of nine selected food items which are highly salted food items commonly c onsumed in Puerto Rico. A strong (odds ratio [OR] = 3.34) and statisti cally significant (P < 0.001) unadjusted difference was found between cases and controls regarding dietary salt exposure. A statistically si gnificant dose response for the index of salt exposure and gastric can cer was also found. The association remained positive and statisticall y significant after simultaneously adjusting for the confounding effec ts of sex, education and cigarette smoking.