Background Although laboratory experiments and casecontrolstudies have suggested that the consumption of green tea providesprotection against gastric cancer, few prospective studies havebeen performed.
Methods In January 1984, a total of 26,311 residents in threemunicipalities of Miyagi Prefecture, in northern Japan (11,902men and 14,409 women 40 years of age or older), completed aself-administered questionnaire that included questions aboutthe frequency of consumption of green tea. During 199,748 person-yearsof follow-up, through December 1992, we identified 419 casesof gastric cancer (in 296 men and 123 women). We used Cox regressionto estimate the relative risk of gastric cancer according tothe consumption of green tea.
Results Green-tea consumption was not associated with the riskof gastric cancer. After adjustment for sex, age, presence orabsence of a history of peptic ulcer, smoking status, alcoholconsumption, other dietary elements, and type of health insurance,the relative risks associated with drinking one or two, threeor four, and five or more cups of green tea per day, as comparedwith less than one cup per day, were 1.1 (95 percent confidenceinterval, 0.8 to 1.6), 1.0 (95 percent confidence interval,0.7 to 1.4), and 1.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.9 to1.6), respectively (P for trend=0.13). The results were similarafter the 117 cases of gastric cancer that were diagnosed inthe first three years of follow-up had been excluded, with respectiverelative risks of 1.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.8 to1.8), 1.0 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.7 to 1.5), and1.4 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 1.9) (P for trend=0.07).
Conclusions In a population-based, prospective cohort studyin Japan, we found no association between green-tea consumptionand the risk of gastric cancer.
Source Information
From the Divisions of Epidemiology (Y.T., Y.N., S. Kanemura, I.T., S.H.) and Environmental Health Sciences (H.S.), Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan; the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (Y.T.); the Faculty of Physical Education, Sendai College, Miyagi, Japan (S. Komatsu); the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cancer Center, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester (C.-C.H.); Miyagi University School of Nursing, Sendai, Japan (H.N.); and the Department of Public Health, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan (A.F.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. Tsubono at the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575, Japan, or at ytsubono{at}metamedica.com.
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