A Population-based Case-control Study on Risk Factors for Gastric Cardia Cancer in Rural Areas of Linzhou

Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Although certaindietary factors and lifestyles have been suggested to be associated with gastric carcinogenesis, there have beenfew investigations focusing on rural areas. A case-control study was therefore carried out to investigate the riskfactors of gastric cardia cancer (GCC) in rural areas of Linzhou. A total of 470 newly diagnosed cases of GCCand 470 healthy controls were included. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, using a uniform questionnairecontaining questions on demographics, per capita income, living habits, dietary habits and family history oftumors. The relationship between putative risk factors and GCC was assessed by odds ratios (OR) and their 95%confidence intervals (95%CI) derived from conditional logistic regression model by the COXREG commandusing SPSS 12.00. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate simultaneously the effects ofmultiple factors and other potential confounding factors. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that smoking(OR=1.939, 95%CI:1.097-3.426), alcohol drinking (OR=2.360, 95%CI: 1.292-4.311), hot food consumption(OR=2.034, 95%CI: 1.507-2.745), fast eating (OR=1.616, 95%CI: 1.171-2.230), mouldy food (OR=4.564, 95%CI:2.682-7.767), leftover food (OR=1.881. 95%CI: 1.324-2.671), and family history of tumor (OR=2.831, 95%CI:1.588-5.050) were risk factors for GCC. High per capita income (OR=0.709, 95%CI: 0.533-0.942), high educationlevel (OR=0.354, 95%CI: 0.163-0.765), consumption of fresh fruits (OR=0.186, 95%CI: 0.111-0.311) and vegetables(OR=0.243, 95%CI: 0.142-0.415), and high BMI (OR=0.367, 95%CI: 0.242-0.557) were protective factors forGCC. Our data indicate that unhealthy lifestyle and dietary habits might be important contributors to GCC inthis population.