zongze Jiang

M.D.

west china fourth hospital

resident doctor

PLCO (Learn more about this study)

PLCO-1311

Sep 5, 2023

A systematic evaluation of dietary and behavioral factors with the risk of gastrointestinal cancers incidence and mortality

With an estimated 4.8 million new cases and 3.4 million deaths worldwide in 2018, cancers of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract represent over one-quarter (26%) of the global cancer incidence and over one-third (35%) of all cancer-related deaths. The principle malignant conditions of the GI tract, namely cancers of the stomach (approximately 1.0 million new cases in 2018), liver (840 000 cases), esophagus (570 000 cases), pancreas (460 000 cases), and colorectum (1.8 million cases), share a few common risk factors, but are largely distinct in their etiologies and descriptive epidemiologic profiles. According to recent studies, more than half of all GI cancers are caused by modifiable risk factors, including alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking, as well as infection, diet and obesity. The marked temporal variations in the incidence of the main GI cancer types over the past decades have been largely ascribed to changes in the prevalence of these risk factors. Prognosis tends to be poor given the late-stage of most diagnoses and hence site-specific mortality trends continue to mirror those of incidence, with the exception of colorectal cancer for which prognosis is generally good as a consequence of advances in both early detection and treatment. Based on projected changes in the age composition and growth of the world population, the global number of new cases of, and deaths from GI cancers are predicted to increase by 58% and 73% to 7.5 and 5.6 million, respectively, by 2040. The extent of the pending burden serves to both highlight the necessity of future clinical services planning for GI cancers, and the need to prioritize and implement preventative actions that can avert many future diagnoses and deaths. It is well-known that lifestyle and diet play a critical role on the carcinogenesis. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial is a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial enrolling around 155,000 participants between November 1993 and July 2001, providing a comprehensive dataset for GI cancers incidence and mortality analysis. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the impact of dietary and behavioral factors on the risk of incidence and mortality from GI cancers. The findings may provide the evidences for physicians to effectively motivate and establish cancer prevention strategies to reduce the cancer risk burden and improve their diet and lifestyle to be healthy.