title: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Malaysian Chinese: salted fish and other dietary exposures.
abstract: We interviewed 282 histologically confirmed cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Chinese residents of Selangor and the Federal Territory, Malaysia, and an equal number of Chinese age-, sex-, and length-of-residence-matched controls sampled from the general population. Consumption of 55 dietary items during childhood, and 5 years pre-diagnosis of NPC, was analyzed by univariate and multivariate methods. Four salted preserved foods (fish, leafy vegetables, egg and root), fresh pork/beef organ meats and beer and liquor consumption exhibited strong positive associations, and 4 vegetable/fruit combinations strong negative associations with NPC. Factor analysis and multivariable modeling using estimated factor scores strongly supported separate effects on NPC of vegetables/fruits, salted preserved foods, pork/beef organ meats and beer/liquor consumption. Multivariable modeling associated NPC most clearly with high consumption of salted fish, salted eggs, pork/beef liver and beer and low consumption of Chinese flowering cabbage, oranges/tangerines and shrimp. A strong residual association of social class with NPC remained after adjustment for diet, which is consistent with a substantial role for non-dietary environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign 61820, USA.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Imrey
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lye
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005519:Food Preservation; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017747:Seafood; D012923:Social Class; D014675:Vegetables