Dietary Intake of Nutrients Involved in One-Carbon Metabolism and Risk of Gastric Cancer: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Dietary intakes of B vitamins and other components involved in one-carbon metabolism, which is necessary for DNA replication, DNA repair, and regulation of gene expression, may be associated with carcinogenesis. We investigated associations between intakes of 11 nutrients (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, biotin, folate, vitamin B12, methionine, choline, and betaine) and gastric cancer risk. A total of 159 incident gastric cancer cases were identified from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (N = 41,513) and matched with 159 controls on year of birth, sex, and country of birth using incidence density sampling. Dietary intakes of nutrients were estimated at baseline (1990–1994) using a 121-item food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using conditional logistic regression models adjusting for Helicobacter pylori infection, and other potential confounders. We observed a positive association between intake of niacin and overall gastric cancer risk (OR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.01–1.75 per SD increment). For thiamine, heterogeneity by subtype (cardia and non-cardia) was found (P_het = 0.05), with weak evidence of an inverse association with cardia cancer risk. Our results do not support increasing intakes of B vitamins or other nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism to reduce gastric cancer risk in a well-nourished population.

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by the contribution of many people, including the original investigators and the diligent team who recruited the participants and who continue working on follow-up. We would also like to express our gratitude to the many thousands of Melbourne residents who continue to participate in the study. Cases and their vital status were ascertained through the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), including the National Death Index and the Australian Cancer Database.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS) was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. The MCCS was further supported by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council [grant numbers: 209057, 251553, 1087683, 396414 and 1074383] and by infrastructure provided by Cancer Council Victoria.