title: Attributable risks for stomach cancer in northern Italy.
abstract: The proportions of gastric cancer cases attributable (or attributable risks, AR) to consumption of traditional foods (i.e., pasta, rice and maize), low intake of beta-carotene and vitamin C, short duration of use of an electric refrigerator, low educational level, and family history of gastric cancer were computed using data from a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy. Between 1985 and June 1993 a total of 746 incident, histologically confirmed gastric cancer cases and 2,053 controls admitted to the same network of hospitals for acute, nonneoplastic, non-digestive-tract diseases, unrelated to long-term modifications of diet, were interviewed. The ARs were 48% for low intake of beta-carotene, 40% for high consumption of traditional foods, and 16% for low intake of vitamin C. Overall, these 3 dietary factors explained 73% of the gastric cancer cases in the population. Five percent of all cases were attributable to less than 30 years' use of an electric refrigerator, 15% to low educational level, and 5% to family history of gastric cancer. In individuals over age 60, a greater proportion of cases was attributable to traditional foods, low education and late adoption of electric refrigeration (58% vs. 32% aged under 60), suggesting that correlates of lower social class, influenced lifestyle, and dietary habits more markedly in earlier than in more recent generations. According to our estimates, over 3 quarters of the gastric cancer cases in this area are explainable in terms of the risk factors considered. Increased consumption of vitamin C and beta-carotene, and reduced consumption of traditional foods, would help to avoid over 10,000 out of 14,000 stomach-cancer deaths in Italy every year. Consequently, stomach cancer, which is still the third leading cause of cancer death in Italy, would represent only about 2% of all cancer deaths.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Vecchia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: D'Avanzo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decarli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benichou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006794:Household Articles; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012034:Refrigeration; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*