Bacon, alcohol and obesity cause stomach cancer

International report shows possible causes of gastric cancer
Drinking alcohol, eating processed meat and being overweight, increases the risk of people developing stomach cancer. So we should eat less meat and limit our alcohol intake to protect our health. Exercise and healthy diet helps to avoid overweight.

In a systematic review of global research, scientists from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have found that daily alcohol consumption, eating processed meat, and being overweight are factors that favor the development of gastric cancer. The researchers have now published a report showing the results of their study.

Scientists found that consuming alcohol and processed meat can cause people to develop stomach cancer. Another factor for the emergence is overweight. (Image: psdesign1 / fotolia.com)

Report analyzes the data of 17.5 million subjects
The published report: Diet, nutrition, physical activity and gastric cancer showed that drinking three or more alcoholic drinks daily is enough to increase our risk of developing stomach cancer. Men, smokers and ex-smokers are the hardest hit, the authors warn. In addition, it is enough to eat fifty grams (amount of a hot dog) of processed meat daily to increase the risk of lower abdominal cancer by 18 percent. There was already evidence that consuming processed meat also increases the risk of colon cancer, say the doctors.

New results prove that cancers of the upper stomach (cardia) are often related to overweight or obesity. The current report shows that our risk for cardia gastric cancer increases by 23 percent when our body mass index rises by five points, the researchers explain. The report analyzed scientific global research on gastric cancer. For this, the researchers examined 98 older studies. These included 17.5 million adults, of whom about 77,000 later developed gastric cancer.

There are simple ways to avoid stomach cancer
Worldwide, there are about one million new cases of gastric cancer each year. The disease is the fifth most common cancer and third deadliest cancer, say the authors. In the United States alone, one in seven (15 percent) gastric cancers can be prevented if people drink no more than three alcoholic drinks a day, eat processed meat, and maintain a healthy body weight. This could prevent about 4,000 gastric cancers a year, say the experts.

The report should be a wake up call. Obesity has now been linked to eleven types of cancer, but there are simple steps that will enable cancer prevention and better health, say the authors. Eating more vegetables, beans, fruits, and other plant-based foods, combined with a bit more exercise, can significantly reduce the risk of cancer, according to Alice Bender, Head of Nutrition Programs at AICR.

The risk of developing stomach cancer is therefore linked to a number of different lifestyle factors, adds the physician. The findings from the current report help protect the public's health and better understand why these factors can affect the risk of developing stomach cancer, the researchers say. (As)