Epidemiology

British Journal of Cancer (2002) 87, 309–313. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6600487 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 23 July 2002

A prospective study of stomach cancer death in relation to green tea consumption in Japan

Y Hoshiyama1, T Kawaguchi1, Y Miura2, T Mizoue3, N Tokui3, H Yatsuya4, K Sakata5, T Kondo4, S Kikuchi6, H Toyoshima4, N Hayakawa7, A Tamakoshi8, Y Ohno8 and T Yoshimura3 for the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study Group9

  1. 1Department of Public Health, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan
  2. 2Department of Nursing, Saitama University Saitama, Japan
  3. 3Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan
  4. 4Department of Public Health/Health Information Dynamics, Field of Social Life Science, Program in Health and Community Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
  5. 5Department of Public Health, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan
  6. 6Department of Public Health, Aichi Medical University, Aichi, Japan
  7. 7Department of Epidemiology, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
  8. 8Department of Preventive Medicine/Biostatistics and Medical Decision Making, Field of Social Life Science, Program in Health and Community Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

Correspondence: Y Hoshiyama, E-mail: yhkiss@med.showa-u.ac.jp

9See list after Acknowledgments for investigators involved in the JACC Study

Received 25 March 2002; Revised 19 April 2002; Accepted 5 June 2002.

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Abstract

To evaluate whether green tea consumption provides protection against stomach cancer death, relative risks were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis in the Japan Collaborative Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk, sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (JACC Study). The study was based on 30 370 men and 42 481 women aged 40–79. After adjustment for age, smoking status, history of peptic ulcer, family history of stomach cancer along with certain dietary items, the risks associated with drinking one or two, three or four, five to nine, and 10 or more cups of green tea per day, relative to those of drinking less than one cup per day, were 1.6 (95% CI: 0.9–2.9), 1.1 (95% CI: 0.6–1.9), 1.0 (95% CI: 0.5–2.0), and 1.0 (95% CI: 0.5–2.0), respectively, in men (P for trend=0.669), and 1.1 (95% CI: 0.5–2.5), 1.0 (95% CI: 0.5–2.5), 0.8 (95% CI: 0.4–1.6), and 0.8 (95% CI: 0.3–2.1), respectively, in women (P for trend=0.488). We found no inverse association between green tea consumption and the risk of stomach cancer death.

Keywords:

green tea, stomach cancer, JACC study