UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Smoking is an established risk factor for cancer of different sites. Concerning gastric cancer it's the of smoking is still disputable. Methods: The influence of lifetime history of tobacco on gastric cancer risk was investigated in a large population-based retrospective study. The study was based on the data of 700 patients with gastric cancer diagnosed either newly or before and 1069 control subjects who applied to Altay oncological center for consultation in 2002-2004. Data concerning tobacco use and other exposure were collected through face-to-face interviews to assess habits of the period before interview (or before the period gastric cancer was diagnosed). The relative risks associated with tobacco use were estimated. Results: After adjustment for age and gender, the relative risk [RR] for never-smokers compared to those who ever smoked was 0.73 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65-0.81). For those who had lifetime history of tobacco use of general duration more then 20 years there was an association with increasing risk of gastric cancer: RR=1.51 (95% CI 1.32-1.68) and RR=2.18 (95% CI 1.90-2.50) for those who had smoked for 20 years and more and for 40 years and more, respectively. Thus, the present study confirmed that lifetime history of tobacco smoking was a risk factor for gastric cancer.