Study of the relation between diet and gastric cancer in a rural area of the Province of Leon, Spain.

We studied the relationship between diet and gastric cancer in a case-control study. One hundred and nine (109) cases were taken from pathology reports of the regional hospitals, and the 123 controls were obtained from the municipal census of the municipalities of the study. The data were analysed using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test. The non-consumption of fresh fruits appeared as a statistically significant risk factor, as well as the consumption of home-made sausages and home-cured meats in general, the risk of which was enhanced when they were eaten smoked. It appears that the less frequent the consumption of fresh fruit and the more frequent the consumption of sausages were the higher the risk was. The non-consumption of fresh vegetables also appeared to be a risk factor, but it was not statistically significant.