Association between Dietary Salt Intake and Progression in the Gastric Precancerous Process

• Published in: Cancers 2019-04, Vol.11 (4), p.467
• Main Authors: Thapa, Susan, Fischbach, Lori A, Delongchamp, Robert, Faramawi, Mohammed F, Orloff, Mohammed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 20th century; Creatinine; Dietary intake; Dogs; Dysplasia; Estimates; Food preservation; Gastric cancer; Helicobacter pylori; Infections; Mortality; Salt; Socioeconomic factors; Sodium; Urine; Vegetables
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers11040467

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Studies investigating the effect of salt on gastric cancer have mainly used self-reported measures, which are not as accurate as sodium/creatinine ratios because individuals may not know the amount of salt in their food. Using data from a prospective cohort study, we investigated the effect of salt intake on progression to gastric precancerous lesions. Salt intake was estimated by urinary sodium/creatinine ratios, self-reported frequencies of adding salt to food, and total added table salt. We repeated the analyses among groups with and without infection. We did not observe a positive association between salt intake, measured by urinary sodium/creatinine ratio, and overall progression in the gastric precancerous process (adjusted risk ratio (RR): 0.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-1.15). We did observe an association between salt intake and increased risk for progression to dysplasia or gastric cancer overall (adjusted risk ratio (RR): 1.32; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96-1.81), especially among those who continued to have infection at the five-month follow-up (adjusted RR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.12-2.09), and among those who had persistent infection over 12 years (adjusted RR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.09-2.05). Salt intake may increase the risk of gastric dysplasia or gastric cancer in individuals with infection.