Preventable lifestyle and eating habits associated with gastric adenocarcinoma: A case-control study

Background: Besides the well-established risk factors for gastric adenocarcinoma (GaC), many other etiological factors remain largely unexplored. This large comprehensive case-control study aimed to investigate the preventable lifestyle and eating habits associated with GaC. Methods: Consecutive patients with primary microscopically-confirmed GaC diagnosed in 2016-2018 were matched by sex, age, height, and socioeconomic status at a 1:1 ratio with healthy controls. Association of GaC versus control with investigated factors was assessed using the multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression for paired samples. Results: Together 302 GaC patients and 302 healthy controls were investigated. Participants receiving higher education and those eating majorly vegetables had less frequently GaC. The majorly frying cooking habit was associated with a higher incidence of GaC. People complaining about poor sleep quality had more often GaC. The more often one smoked, the more often he/she had GaC. A higher frequency for having pickled food was associated with more frequent GaC, while having more frequently vegetables/fruit, beans, or kelps was associated with less often GaC. A greater preference for sour or bitter taste was associated with less frequent GaC. The frequencies of thin liquid intake after meal, swallowing hot food without adequate cooling, doing other things while eating, eating overnight food, and eating midnight snack were all positively associated with GaC, while going to bed regularly was associated with less often GaC. Conclusions: Education level, sleep quality, smoking, the frequencies of use of several foods and seasonings, the preference for specific tastes, and various eating and living habits were associated with GaC. The findings offer important hints for further prospective investigations and for easy effective GaC-preventative strategy-making.