Despite the decreasing incidence and mortality rates observed worldwide over the last 50 years, gastric cancer still ranks as one of the most frequent and lethal cancers worldwide. The most important factors thought to be responsible for for gastric cancer development are diet and Helicobacter pylori infection.

Diet and Gastric Cancer High intake of salted, pickled, or smoked foods as well as dried fish and meat and refined carbohydrates significantly increases the risk of developing gastric cancer while fiber, fresh vegetables, and fruits were found to be inversely associated with gastric cancer risk. High consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol enhanced the risk of cancer. High consumption of red and processed meat also associated with gastric cancer. Green and yellow vegetables highest protective effect of gastric cancer. Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world and the consumption of tea has been hypothesized to be associated with a decreased risk of GC

H.pylori and gastric Cancer (GC) Since the incidental discovery in 1983 the association of H pylori with GC has become a hot topic of GI studies. Just a decade later, a large cross-sectional study (the EUROGAST study) involving 17 populations from 13 different countries (USA, Japan and 11 European countries) concluded that H pylori-infected patients had six-fold increased risk of GC compared with uninfected subjects. A case control study conducted in Thailand analyzing both the effect of dietary pattern and H pylori infection found an increased risk of GC associated with a high intake of salt and fermented foods. (Click here to view/order article at Pubmed)