Abstract
Background
Recent studies revealed the potential tumor-suppressive effects of calcium. We aimed to investigate the association between dietary calcium intake contributed by whole foods and gastric cancer.
Methods
466 gastric cancer cases and 1531 controls were extracted from the completed case-control studies in hospitals in Hanoi from 2017 to 2019. A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to obtain data via face-to-face interviews with the trained interviewer. Calcium intake was calculated based on the food frequency intake per year. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated.
Results
The study participants consumed less than 50% of 700 mg/day compared to the recommended calcium intake. With increasing calcium intake, we found a reduction in gastric cancer in both genders, men and women (adjusted OR and 95%CI, 5th vs. 1st quintile: 0.50 (0.36, 0.70), p_trend 0.000; 0.62 (0.42, 0.92), p_trend 0.019; and 0.30 (0.16, 0.57), p_trend 0.000, respectively). The inverse association remained in the subgroups of never-smokers and those with positive H. pylori infection.
Conclusion
We observed substantial benefits of calcium intake from whole foods against gastric cancer in the Vietnamese population with a low nutritious status.
Acknowledgments
We sincerely thank the hard work and dedication of the workers at Bach Mai Hospital, Viet Duc Hospital, National Cancer Hospital, and Hanoi Medical University Hospital for organizing and recruiting the study participants. We would like to express our gratitude to the patients who participated in the study and shared details regarding their dietary and lifestyle habits. We greatly appreciate your revising the manuscript by Tietie Fusi Masina. Ngoan Tran Le was also affiliated to the International University of Health and Welfare, Japan at the time of the study.
Authors’ Contributions
Conceptualization: Ngoan Tran Le
Formal analysis: Thinh Gia Nguyen, Dung Thuy Thi Truong
Methodology: Ngoan Tran Le, Thinh Gia Nguyen, Dung Thuy Thi Truong, Shunya Ikeda, Phuoc Hong Le, and Tuyen Cat Kim Vo.
Supervision: Ngoan Tran Le, Shunya Ikeda
Validation: Ngoan Tran Le, Shunya Ikeda
Writing – original draft: Thinh Gia Nguyen, Dung Thuy Thi Truong
Writing – review & editing: Ngoan Tran Le, Shunya Ikeda
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
The data generated in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).