Is Dietary Pattern Associated with Gastric Cancer Risk? A Case-control Study in Iran

Background: Diet is considered as an important contributor to the development of the cancers. In the present study, the association of dietary patterns with gastric cancer risk was studied. Methods: In the present case-control study, 192 newly diagnosed gastric cancer patients and 365 subjects as control group were included. The participants in each group underwent face-to-face interview. For food pattern determination, a 100-item qualitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and exploratory factor analysis method were used. Logistic regression was used for determination of association between derived dietary patterns and gastric cancer risk. Results: Four major dietary patterns with 55.48% prediction rate, namely “tubers and spices”, “cereals and dairies”, “healthy” and “Western-style”, were identified. Tubers and spices [in males: 11.42 (4.17, 26.75); in females: 6.94 (2.24, 21.56)] and “Western-style” dietary patterns [ in males: 1.16 (1.00-4.35); in females: 2.25 (1.10, 6.49] significantly increased the odds of gastric cancer risk in both sex. However, “healthy” dietary pattern and “cereals and dairies” dietary pattern were not associated with gastric cancer risk (P>0.05).  Conclusion: In Iranian population, consumption of diets high in tubers, spices and salts (labelled tubers and spices), processed meat, high energy drinks, snacks and desserts (labelled western-style) tended to increase the risk of gastric cancer. More longitudinal studies with large sample size and accurate estimate of dietary intake is suggested until more precise conclusion could be achieved.