Dietary and purgation factors in the epidemiology of gastric cancer

A study was made of 188 men and 88 women with gastric cancer plus controls of 800 men and 1400 women with non‐neoplastic, nondigestive disease seen at Roswell Park Memorial Institute between 1957 and 1965. Sex and age‐specific comparisons of cases and controls showed few positive results for men and almost none for women regarding ingestion of a large number of specific foods and beverages, including alcohol. Higher proportions of men with gastric cancer ate cabbage and potatoes than controls though the latter result was not significant. Eating infrequently also more often characterized patients with cancer; this result may parallel those of Segi and Wynder regarding “irregular” eating. The current finding of a higher risk for use of purgatives was similar to the one reported earlier by Boyd and Doll. Many sources of possible error in these results may inhere in the interview method used. Nevertheless, a number of considerations with regard to the interview approach suggest the need for similar research in the future to investigate the relationships found.