Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Stomach Cancer among Male Adults: A Case-Control Study in Northern Viet Nam

Phuoc, Le Hong; Sengngam, Khanpaseuth; Ogawa, Toshio; Ngatu, Nlandu Roger; Ikeda, Shunya; Hoc, Tran Hieu; Phu, Pham Van; Minh, Dinh Thi; Ngoan, Le Tran

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.7.2109

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Stomach Cancer among Male Adults: A Case-Control Study in Northern Viet Nam

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

¹ Graduate School of Public Health, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita city, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

² Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh city, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam.

³ Hanoi Medical University, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

⁴ Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita city, Chiba prefecture, Japan.

⁵ Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang city, Vietnam.

10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.7.2109

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the association between fruit and vegetable intake and stomach cancer, with considering the impacts of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and tobacco smoking. Methods: A case-control study featuring 80 male incident stomach-cancer cases and 126 male controls was conducted in a general hospital in Viet Nam. A semi-quantitative food frequency and demographic lifestyle questionnaire were used; and venous blood samples were collected to determine H. pylori status by IgG ELISA. The respective associations between fruit and vegetable intake and stomach cancer were examined using unconditional logistic regression analysis with adjustments for possible cofactors. Results: Fruit intake and stomach cancer showed a weak inverse association when this became non-significant after adjusting for H. pylori infection (OR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.22–1.12, p trend = 0.094). Stratifying by H. pylori status returned a negative trend for fruit intake and stomach cancer among H. pylori-negative participants (OR = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.06–0.69, p trend = 0.010), but no significant interaction for H. pylori-positive participants (OR = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.21–2.68, p trend = 0.670). Vegetable intake and stomach cancer showed no association, regardless of H. pylori status. Compared to ever-smokers with low intake, never-smokers with high vegetable (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.06–0.95) and fruit intake (OR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.06–0.65) showed the lowest odds of stomach cancer. Conclusions: Fruit, but not vegetable, intake showed a weak inverse association with stomach cancer. H. pylori infection and tobacco-smoking status may influence the protective effects of fruit and vegetable intake on stomach cancer.

Keywords