Sodium Intake, Salt Taste and Gastric Cancer Risk According to Helicobacter Pylori Infection, Smoking, Histological Type and Tumor Site in China

Aim: The risk factors mostly strongly associated with gastric cancer are gastric bacteria Helicobacter pyloriand diet. Using a case-control study among residents in Jinan, we examined the association between the salt tasteand gastric cancer according to H. pylori infection, smoking and histological type as well as tumor site.
Methods:This population-based case-control study included 207 cases and 410 controls. Data on potential risk factors ofgastric cancer were obtained by interview of cases and controls with a questionnaire, salt taste preference wasmeasured for all subjects, and IgG antibodies to H. pylori were applied to assess infection. Risk measures weredetermined using unconditional logistic regression.
Results: The proportions of salt taste at intervals of 1.8-7.2g/L and ≥7.2 g/L were significantly higher in cases than controls, with ORs of 1.56 (1.23-3.64) and 2.03 (2.12-4.11), respectively, subjects with high salt intake having an elevated risk for gastric cancer when infected withH. pylori. Significant modification by smoking and tumor site was observed across the different measures of saltintake, the highest salt taste showed higher cancer risk in ever smokers or with non-cardia cancers.
Conclusion:Our study supports the view that high intake of sodium is an important dietary risk factor for gastric cancer,with a synergistic effect found between salt and H.pylori and smoking, dependent on the tumor site.