Pickled food and risk of gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of English and Chinese literature
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 05/07/2012
Ren J-S et al. – Our results suggest a potential 50% higher risk of gastric cancer associated with intake of pickled vegetables/foods and perhaps stronger associations in Korea and China.
Methods- We conducted a meta-analysis of epidemiologic observational studies to evaluate the existing evidence. Searching PubMed, Vip Chinese Periodical, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases, we found a total of 60 studies, 50 case–control, and 10 prospective. We compared gastric cancer risk in pickled vegetable/food users versus nonusers (11 studies) or versus those in the lowest reported category of use (49 studies).
- Pooled results were computed with random-effects models.
- Among case–control studies, 30 showed significant increased risk and one showed significant decreased risk.
- Among prospective studies, two showed a significant increased risk but none showed a significant decreased risk. The OR (95% CI) was 1.52 (1.37–1.68) for the overall association, 1.56 (1.39–1.75) for case–control, and 1.32 (1.10–1.59) for cohort studies.
- The OR (95% CI) was 1.89 (1.29–2.77) in Korean, 1.86 (1.61–2.15) in Chinese, and 1.16 (1.04–1.29) in Japanese studies, and 1.14 (0.96–1.35) in studies from other countries.
- There was high heterogeneity in overall and subgroup analyses.
