Talc-coated rice as a risk factor for stomach cancer.

Analysis of data from Japan and Hawaii offers no support for the hypothesis that the use of talc-coated rice increases the risk of developing stomach cancer. This conclusion is based on the observation that Japanese in Japan have very high rates of stomach cancer but consume no talc-coated rice, that Japanese in Hawaii have intermediate rates of stomach cancer but consume considerable amounts of talc-coated rice, and that Filipinos in Hawaii have very low rates of gastric cancer but consume the highest amounts of talc-coated rice of these three groups. Furthermore, secular trends in gastric cancer incidence show a much greater decrease in the incidence of this tumor among the exposed Japanese in Hawaii than among the unexposed Japanese in Japan.