Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1987 Aug;56(2):163–167. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1987.178

Atrophic gastritis and vitamin C status in two towns with different stomach cancer death-rates.

M L Burr 1, I M Samloff 1, C J Bates 1, R M Holliday 1
PMCID: PMC2002143  PMID: 3663468

Abstract

A survey was conducted of 513 men aged 65 74 years living in two British towns with high and low stomach cancer death-rates. The prevalence of severe atrophic gastritis (defined as a serum pepsinogen I less than 20 micrograms l-1) was significantly higher in the high-risk than in the low-risk town (14.5% and 7.7% respectively); it also tended to be higher in the manual workers, who are known to have a greater risk of stomach cancer than non-manual workers. The manual workers in the high-risk town were particularly likely to have had a partial gastrectomy. Plasma ascorbate concentration and fruit intake were lower in the high-risk area and lower social classes, suggesting a poorer vitamin C status. There was, however, no direct relationship between ascorbate concentration and the presence of severe atrophic gastritis. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that risk of stomach cancer is determined in two stages--a long-term effect, producing atrophic gastritis; and a short-term effect in which vitamin C is protective.

Full text

PDF
163

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bates C. J., Burr M. K., St Leger A. S. Vitamin C, high density lipoproteins and heart disease in elderly subjects. Age Ageing. 1979 Aug;8(3):177–182. doi: 10.1093/ageing/8.3.177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burr M. L., Elwood P. C., Hole D. J., Hurley R. J., Hughes R. E. Plasma and leukocyte ascorbic acid levels in the elderly. Am J Clin Nutr. 1974 Feb;27(2):144–151. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/27.2.144. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cheli R., Simon L., Aste H., Figus I. A., Nicoló G., Bajtai A., Puntoni R. Atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia in asymptomatic Hungarian and Italian populations. Endoscopy. 1980 May;12(3):105–108. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-1021722. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Correa P., Cuello C., Fajardo L. F., Haenszel W., Bolaños O., de Ramírez B. Diet and gastric cancer: nutrition survey in a high-risk area. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1983 Apr;70(4):673–678. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Correa P., Fontham E., Pickle L. W., Chen V., Lin Y. P., Haenszel W. Dietary determinants of gastric cancer in south Louisiana inhabitants. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1985 Oct;75(4):645–654. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Correa P., Haenszel W., Cuello C., Tannenbaum S., Archer M. A model for gastric cancer epidemiology. Lancet. 1975 Jul 12;2(7924):58–60. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90498-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Craven J. L., Baum M., West R. R. Variations in gastric cancer mortality in South Wales. Clin Oncol. 1979 Dec;5(4):341–351. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Haenszel W., Kurihara M., Segi M., Lee R. K. Stomach cancer among Japanese in Hawaii. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1972 Oct;49(4):969–988. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Krasinski S. D., Russell R. M., Samloff I. M., Jacob R. A., Dallal G. E., McGandy R. B., Hartz S. C. Fundic atrophic gastritis in an elderly population. Effect on hemoglobin and several serum nutritional indicators. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1986 Nov;34(11):800–806. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1986.tb03985.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Levine D. F., Beer M. Measurement of plasma group I pepsinogens. Postgrad Med J. 1984 Sep;60(707):582–585. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.60.707.582. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nomura A. M., Stemmermann G. N., Samloff I. M. Serum pepsinogen I as a predictor of stomach cancer. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Oct;93(4):537–540. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-4-537. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Parente F., Lazzaroni M., Sangaletti O., Baroni S., Bianchi Porro G. Cigarette smoking, gastric acid secretion, and serum pepsinogen I concentrations in duodenal ulcer patients. Gut. 1985 Dec;26(12):1327–1332. doi: 10.1136/gut.26.12.1327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Samloff I. M. Pepsinogens I and II: purification from gastric mucosa and radioimmunoassay in serum. Gastroenterology. 1982 Jan;82(1):26–33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Samloff I. M., Varis K., Ihamaki T., Siurala M., Rotter J. I. Relationships among serum pepsinogen I, serum pepsinogen II, and gastric mucosal histology. A study in relatives of patients with pernicious anemia. Gastroenterology. 1982 Jul;83(1 Pt 2):204–209. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sandler R. S., Johnson M. D., Holland K. L. Risk of stomach cancer after gastric surgery for benign conditions. A case-control study. Dig Dis Sci. 1984 Aug;29(8):703–708. doi: 10.1007/BF01312941. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schafer L. W., Larson D. E., Melton L. J., 3rd, Higgins J. A., Ilstrup D. M. The risk of gastric carcinoma after surgical treatment for benign ulcer disease. A population-based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota. N Engl J Med. 1983 Nov 17;309(20):1210–1213. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198311173092003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Siurala M., Isokoski M., Varis K., Kekki M. Prevalence of gastritis in a rural population. Bioptic study of subjects selected at random. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1968;3(2):211–223. doi: 10.3109/00365526809180125. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Stemmermann G. N., Samloff I. M., Nomura A. M., Heilbrun L. K. Serum pepsinogens I and II and stomach cancer. Clin Chim Acta. 1987 Mar 16;163(2):191–198. doi: 10.1016/0009-8981(87)90022-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Stähelin H. B., Rösel F., Buess E., Brubacher G. Cancer, vitamins, and plasma lipids: prospective Basel study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984 Dec;73(6):1463–1468. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Svendsen J. H., Dahl C., Svendsen L. B., Christiansen P. M. Gastric cancer risk in achlorhydric patients. A long-term follow-up study. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1986 Jan;21(1):16–20. doi: 10.3109/00365528609034615. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tamm A., Villako K., Härkönen M., Karonen S. L. Serum pepsinogen I and the state of gastric mucosa in an Estonian population sample. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1984 Nov;19(8):1091–1094. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Trichopoulos D., Ouranos G., Day N. E., Tzonou A., Manousos O., Papadimitriou C., Trichopoulos A. Diet and cancer of the stomach: a case-control study in Greece. Int J Cancer. 1985 Sep 15;36(3):291–297. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Varis K., Samloff I. M., Ihämaki T., Siurala M. An appraisal of tests for severe atrophic gastritis in relatives of patients with pernicious anemia. Dig Dis Sci. 1979 Mar;24(3):187–191. doi: 10.1007/BF01308427. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Villako K., Kekki M., Tamm A., Tammur R., Savisaar E., Viirsalu V., Sipponen P. Epidemiology and dynamics of gastritis in a representative sample of an Estonin urban population. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1982 Aug;17(5):601–607. doi: 10.3109/00365528209181065. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Villako K., Tamm A., Savisaar E., Ruttas M. Prevalence of antral and fundic gastritis in a randomly selected group of an Estonian rural population. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1976;11(8):817–822. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES