Fish sauce and gastric cancer:an ecological study in Fujian Province,China

AIM:To explore the relationship between consumption of fish sauce and the risk of gastric cancer in Fujian Province.METHODS:An ecological study was carried out. A total of 11000 subjects from 55 townships were randomly selected from 10 counties within Fujian Province. All subjects were local residents who had been living in Fujian Province for more than 20 years, within the age group of 45-74 years. Trained interviewers conducted face-to-face interviews with a standardized questionnaire, which covered the frequency and amount of food intake,dietary habit, tobacco and alcohol consumption and history of chronic gastric diseases.Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using Epi-info and SAS statistical packages, respectively.RESULTS:A significant correlation between monthly consumption of fish sauce and mortality of gastric cancer was found. Pearson's coefficient of correlation was statistically significant with r = 0.7356 for males, r = 0.5246 for females (P < 0.01). In the multivariate analysis, consumption of fish sauce still showed an association with the risk of gastric cancer. No significant positive correlation between esophagus cancer, liver cancer,colon cancer and consumption of fish sauce were observed.CONCLUSION:Long-term intake of fish sauce may be related to high mortality of gastric cancer. Consumption of fish sauce might be one of important and unique etiologic factors of gastric cancer in Fujian Province. Further studies are needed to confirm this ecological study.