Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect modification by vitamin C on the relation between gastric cancer and Helicobacter pylori

  • Cancer Epidemiology
  • Published:
European Journal of Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A hospital-based case–control study of 295 cases with histologically confirmed gastric cancer and age and sex-matched controls was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary vitamin C intake upon the relation between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer in Korea in 1997–1998. Anti-H. pylori IgG was detected by ELISA. A food frequency questionnaire, and a questionnaire on demographic factors, including past medical history, smoking, alcohol consumption, and life style was also administered. The prevalences of H. pylori IgG in cases and controls were 80.7% and 71.2%, respectively, and the odds ratio (OR) of H. pylori for gastric cancer was 1.68 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 2.44), after adjusting for age, sex, educational level, and a past medical history of gastritis or gastric ulcer. In a stratified analysis, H. pylori seropositivity was found to be a significant risk factor for gastric cancer in the low vitamin C intake group (OR=4.68; 95% CI: 1.97, 11.1), but not in the high vitamin C intake group (OR=0.72; 95% CI: 0.32, 1.65). Vitamin C intake was found to modify the relation between H. pylori and gastric cancer.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization. Infection with Helicobacter pylori. In: Schistosomes, liver flukes and Helicobacter pylori. Lyon: IARC, 1994.

  • C Holocombe (1992) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori: The African enigma. Gut 33 429–431

    Google Scholar 

  • DM Parkin CS Muir SL Whelan et al. (1992) Cancer incidence in five continents, Vol VI. IARC Scientific Publications no 120 Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  • Palli D, Decarli A, Cipriani F, et al. Helicobacter pylori antibodies in areas of Italy at varying gastric cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1993 Jan–Feb; 2(Suppl 1): 37–40.

  • Sierra R, Munoz N, Pena AS, et al. Antibodies to Helicobacter pylori and pepsinogen levels in children from Costa Rica: Comparison of two areas with different risks for stomach cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1992 Sep–Oct; 1(Suppl 6): 449–454.

  • Tsugane S, Kabuto M, Imai H, et al. Helicobacter pylori, dietary factors, and atrophic gastritis in five Japanese populations with different gastric cancer mortality. Cancer Causes Control 1993 Jul; 4(Suppl 4): 297–305.

  • A Fukao S Komatsu Y Tsubono et al. (1993) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori infection and chronic atrophic gastritis among Japanese blood donors: A cross-sectional study. Cancer Causes Control 4(Suppl 4) 307–312 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00051332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P Correa J Fox E Fontham et al. (1990) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma. Serum antibody prevalence in populations with contrasting cancer risks. Cancer 66(Suppl 12) 2569–2574

    Google Scholar 

  • HZ Lin YC Zhang WF Zhang et al. (1989) ArticleTitleCampylobacter pyloridis (Cp) infection of gastric mucosa in the high and low risk areas of gastric cancer in Liaoning province. Chin J Oncol 11 365–367

    Google Scholar 

  • D Forman F Sitas DG Newell et al. (1990) ArticleTitleGeographic association of Helicobacter pylori antibody prevalence and gastric cancer mortality in rural China. Int J Cancer 46 608–611

    Google Scholar 

  • EUROGAST Study Group The (1993) ArticleTitleAn international association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer. Lancet 341 1359–1362 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0140-6736(93)90938-D

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GI Perez-Perez N Bhat J Gaensbauer et al. (1997) ArticleTitleCountry-specific constancy by age in cagA+ proportion of Helicobacter pylori infection. Int J Cancer 72 453–456 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(19970729)72:3<453::AID-IJC13>3.0.CO;2-D

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J Parsonnet GD Friedman N Orentreich et al. (1997) ArticleTitleRisk for gastric cancer in people with CagA positive or CagA negative Helicobacter pylori infection. Gut 40 297–301

    Google Scholar 

  • MJ Blaser GI Perez-Perez H Kleanthous et al. (1995) ArticleTitleInfection with Helicobacter pylori strains possessing cagA is associated with an increased risk of developing adenocarcinoma of the stomach. Cancer Res 55 2111–2115 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXls1OksrY%3D Occurrence Handle7743510

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • EJ Kuipers GI Perez-Perez SGM Meuwissen et al. (1995) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori and atrophic gastritis; importance of the cagA status. J Natl Cancer Inst 87 1777–1780

    Google Scholar 

  • T Rokkas G Papatheodorou A Karameris et al. (1995) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori infection and gastric juice vitamin C levels. Impact of eradication. Dig Dis Sci 40 615–621

    Google Scholar 

  • B Ruiz JC Rood ET Fontham et al. (1994) ArticleTitleVitamin C concentration in gastric juice before and after anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment. Am J Gastroenterol 89 533–539

    Google Scholar 

  • S Banerjee C Hawksby S Miller et al. (1994) ArticleTitleEffect of Helicobacter pylori and its eradication on gastric juice ascorbic acid. Gut 35 317–322

    Google Scholar 

  • GM Sobala CJ Schorah S Shires et al. (1993) ArticleTitleEffect of eradication of Helicobacter pylori on gastric juice ascorbic acid concentrations. Gut 34 1038–1041

    Google Scholar 

  • JJ Schlesselman (1982) Case-control studies. Oxford Univ. Press New York

    Google Scholar 

  • The Korean Nutrition Society. Food values of portions commonly used. Seoul, Korea: The Korean Nutrition Information Center, 1998.

  • HJ Lee HK Yang YO Ahn (2002) ArticleTitleGastric cancer in Korea. Gastric Cancer 5(Suppl 3) 177–182 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s101200200031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Youn HS, Baik SC, Cho YK, et al. Comparison of Helicobacter pylori infection between Fukuoka, Japan and Chinju, Korea. Helicobacter 1998 Mar; 3(Suppl 1): 9–14.

  • Lunet N, Barros H. Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer: Facing the enigmas. Int J Cancer 2003 Oct 10; 106(Suppl 6): 953–960.

  • Jarosz M, Dzieniszewski J, Dabrowska-Ufniarz E, et al. Effects of high dose vitamin C treatment on Helicobacter pylori infection and total vitamin C concentration in gastric juice. Eur J Cancer Prev 1998 Dec; 7(Suppl 6): 449–454.

  • Sjunnesson H, Sturegard E, Willen R, et al. High intake of selenium, beta-carotene, and vitamins A, C, and E reduces growth of Helicobacter pylori in the guinea pig. Comp Med 2001 Oct; 51(Suppl 5): 418–423.

  • Zhang HM, Wakisaka N, Maeda O, et al. Vitamin C inhibits the growth of a bacterial risk factor for gastric carcinoma: Helicobacter pylori. Cancer 1997 Nov 15; 80(Suppl 10): 1897–1903.

  • Zhang ZW, Abdullahi M, Farthing MJ. Effect of physiological concentrations of vitamin C on gastric cancer cells and Helicobacter pylori Gut 2002 Feb; 50(Suppl 2): 165–169.

  • You WC, Zhang L, Gail MH, et al. Gastric dysplasia and gastric cancer: Helicobacter pylori, serum vitamin C, and other risk factors. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000 Oct 4; 92(Suppl 19): 1607–1612.

  • Sasazuki S, Sasaki S, Tsubono Y, et al. The effect of 5-year vitamin C supplementation on serum pepsinogen level and Helicobacter pylori infection. Cancer Sci 2003 Apr; 94(Suppl 4): 378–382.

  • Correa P, Fontham ET, Bravo JC, et al. Chemoprevention of gastric dysplasia: Randomized trial of antioxidant supplements and anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000 Dec 6; 92(Suppl 23): 1881–1888.

  • P Correa M Malcom (1998) ArticleTitleG, Schmidt B, et al. Review article: Antioxidant micronutrients and gastric cancer. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 12(Suppl 1) 73–82

    Google Scholar 

  • B Meyer B Werth C Beglinger (1991) ArticleTitleHelicobacter pylori infection in healthy people A dynamic process? Gut 32 347

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Dae-Sung Kim & Yoon-Ok Ahn

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Korea

    Moo-Song Lee

  3. Department of Family Medicine, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Korea

    Young-Sik Kim

  4. Department of Social Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Korea

    Dong-Hyun Kim

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine, Cheju National University College of Medicine, Korea

    Jong-Myon Bae

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Korea

    Myong-Hee Shin

Authors
  1. Dae-Sung Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Moo-Song Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Young-Sik Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dong-Hyun Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jong-Myon Bae
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Myong-Hee Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yoon-Ok Ahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoon-Ok Ahn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, DS., Lee, MS., Kim, YS. et al. Effect modification by vitamin C on the relation between gastric cancer and Helicobacter pylori. Eur J Epidemiol 20, 67–71 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-004-1027-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-004-1027-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation