Nutrition and gastric cancer in Turkey.

Gastric cancer remains to be one of leading causes of cancer deaths despite worldwide decreasing incidence. In Turkey gastric cancer incidence is 9.6/100,000 in men and 5.7/100,000 in females. Gastric cancer is also one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Turkey with a crude death rate of 5.84/100,000 in men, 3.7/100,000 in women. The mean age of patients diagnosed with gastric cancer is 56 years in Turkey. The relatively high rate of gastric cancer in Turkey is mainly due to dietary factors. The traditional food preservation such as salt curing or smoking and lack of refrigeration of food play a significant role in gastric cancer development in the country. There are etiological and epidemiological differences among geographical regions in Turkey. Gastric cancer is seen much more often in the central, northeastern, and eastern part of Turkey. Increased HP pylori infection is also another important reason for increased incidence of gastric cancer in some parts of the country.