Effects of Dietary, Drinking, and Smoking Habits on the Prognosis of Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Although it has been clarified that dietary, drinking, and smoking habits contribute to the onset of gastric cancer, little is known about their impact on prognosis of gastric cancer. To examine this question, a prognostic analysis was conducted using data from Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute and Hospital. From January 1988 to December 1994, information on 877 gastric cancer patients (578 men and 299 women) regarding habitual smoking and drinking, food consumption, histological grade, and clinical stage of tumor as well as follow-up results were collected. Survival status of all patients was followed up until December 1998, and the survival function was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Proportional hazard analysis was used to test the effect of each lifestyle item on gastric cancer death. After controlling for age, gender, histological grade, and stage of disease, hazard ratios (HR) were calculated. Values for consumption of raw vegetables [HR = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-0.98], tofu (HR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.42-0.99), and chicken meat (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.39-0.95) more than three times per week demonstrated significantly decreased risk. However, the risk ratio was 2.53 (95% CI = 1.22-5.29) for habitual smokers, and an inverse dose-response relationship was also found between ever smoking and gastric cancer patient survival. Therefore, this study suggested that frequent intake of raw vegetables and tofu is favorable, whereas habitual smoking is an adverse prognostic factor for gastric cancer. Our study implies that an improvement of survival of Japanese gastric cancer might be achieved by lifestyle improvement.

Smoking and Overweight: Negative Prognostic Factors in Stage III Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

“…In our study group, 30% of the women were current smokers and they had a shorter survival after ovarian cancer compared with nonsmokers. This is in line with results on other cancer types (10-13), and although the exact mechanism is unknown, it has been suggested that tobaccosmoke carcinogens may induce a more aggressive cancer type (e.g., inducing p53 mutations), and that smoking may have a negative effect on the immune system, making it less capable of destroying the cancer cells (10,26). Smoking has also been shown to be associated with other unhealthy lifestyle habits (27), which, in themselves may have a negative effect on survival.…”

“…Only overweight was a significant prognostic factor, as too few cases were ever smokers to make any conclusions on the effect of smoking on survival. Other studies have shown that smoking has a negative prognostic effect on survival in patients diagnosed with cancer in the lung, breast, prostate, and stomach (10)(11)(12)(13). Although smoking has not been found to influence ovarian cancer mortality (14), it is unknown whether smoking is associated with survival after ovarian cancer.…”

Association of Smoking History with Cancer Recurrence and Survival in Stage III–IV Male Gastric Cancer Patients

“…17). However, in a Japanese study, current or ever-habitual drinking did not significantly increase mortality HRs (16).…”

“…In a Japanese study with 877 patients with gastric cancer, the risk ratio for death was 2.53 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.22-5.29] for habitual smokers, and an inverse dose-response relationship was found between ever smoking and gastric cancer patient survival (16). On the other hand, in a study with 14,578 Korean men, Park and colleagues identified that patients with gastric cancer with a prediagnosis smoking history had better survival rates than nonsmokers in multivariateadjusted analyses (HR for mortality, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72-0.95; ref.…”

Synchronous Hodgkin’s Disease and Gastric Adenocarcinoma

“…First-generation migrants from high-incidence countries to low-incidence countries sustain the risk rate of their native country, whereas subsequent generations acquire the risk rate of their new environment [5, 6]. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer.…”