[Stomach cancer: risk factors]
For the last fifty years, stomach cancer has become less important in terms of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, but the same pattern has not occurred in Brazil. The main risk factors for this neoplasm are certain diet patterns that became evident through epidemiological studies in various population groups. After the carcinogenic effects of nitrosamines and the anti-oxidant activity of vitamin C were discovered, some of the associations between stomach cancer and diet were partially understood. After the description of Helicobacter pylori in 1983 and the evidence of the relationship between this bacteria and certain stomach diseases, new elements were added to the knowledge about the development of this neoplasm. Current knowledge, albeit incomplete, provides interesting prospects for the prevention and early diagnosis of stomach cancer.
Britto
AV
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva e Social, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, 13081-970, Brasil.