The Associations of Dietary Intake of High Sodium and Low Zinc with Gastric Cancer Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study in Korea

Abstract

Sodium and zinc display opposite effects on immune cells, such as regulatory T cells (Tregs) and T helper 17 cells (Th17), resulting in an altered immune response. Immune cells have a pivotal role in regulating tumor progression, which may affect gastric cancer (GC) mortality. Thus, this cohort study investigated the associations between the combination of sodium and zinc intake and GC mortality and whether these associations differ by histological type by following up deaths of GC cases in Korea. A total of 490 patients with GC were enrolled between 2002 and 2006. Survival or death was prospectively followed up until December 31, 2016. Finally, 300 patients with the two main histological types of GC were included; 99 GC deaths occurred during a median follow-up period of 7.1 years. Patients with high sodium and low zinc intake had a significantly higher GC mortality than those with low sodium and high zinc intake (hazard ratio [HR], 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–3.93). However, no significant association was found between the histological types of GC. In conclusion, we found that high sodium and low zinc intake may worsen the survival rate of patients with GC.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding authors. The data are not publicly available because of the privacy concerns of the subjects.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Gangneung-Wonju National University and the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (Grant Number 2020R1I1A3A04036989).