Gastric cancer in Poland--a decreased malignancy due to changing nutritional habits of the population.

The paper deals with the mortality pattern from stomach cancer over the period of last 20 years in Poland. The decrescent nature of gastric cancer was discussed in the light of data regarding the food consumption over several past decades and the results of the case-control study on stomach cancer and diet. In men the mortality rates dropped over 20 years by about 50% in younger and by about 40% in older age groups. Among women the drop in the rates was slightly faster than in men with the exception of age group 40-44 years. When examining the consumption of specific food products per capita over the period of last few decades, one has to note a marked increase in meat and drop in the consumption of cereals, as well as potatoes. The case-control study showed that the high risk of stomach cancer run the people with low level of vegetable and fruit consumption. Analysis performed confirmed the downward trend in stomach cancer rates in Poland over the last 20 years and explains the pattern observed by the marked changes in the nutritional habits of the population at large.