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Menstrual and reproductive factors and the mortality risk of gastric cancer in Japanese menopausal females

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Abstract

Objective: The relationship between gastric cancer and menstrual and reproductive history was investigated for 40,535 postmenopausal females from a large-scale prospective cohort in Japan (JACC: Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk, sponsored by Monbusho). Methods: A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate risk with respect to menstrual and reproductive factors for gastric cancer mortality. The effects on risk of potential confounders such as lifestyle, dietary habits, and socioeconomic status were controlled for using a stepwise procedure. Results: During the study period (mean 8.2 years), 156 deaths due to gastric cancer were identified. Longer fertility tended to be inversely associated with risk of gastric cancer mortality, although the association was not significant. Late menopause had no obvious effect on gastric cancer risk. The risk ratio of delivery experience compared to no delivery was 0.62 (95% confidence interval 0.27–1.41), and this effect was consistent regardless of the number of deliveries. Early menarche was not associated with the risk of gastric cancer. The potential confounders were not seen to have distinct effects on the associations. Conclusions: Multiparity appears to confer a protective tendency on gastric cancer mortality; however, this result is inconsistent with previous reports. Further information needs to be accumulated from epidemiological studies in order to clarify the role of reproductive factors in gastric cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

    Satoshi Kaneko

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine/Biostatistics and Medical Decision Making, Nagoya University, School of Medicine, Japan

    Akiko Tamakoshi & Yoshiyuki Ohno

  3. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

    Tetsuya Mizoue & Takesumi Yoshimura

Authors
  1. Satoshi Kaneko
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  2. Akiko Tamakoshi
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  3. Yoshiyuki Ohno
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  4. Tetsuya Mizoue
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  5. Takesumi Yoshimura
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Correspondence to Satoshi Kaneko.

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Kaneko, S., Tamakoshi, A., Ohno, Y. et al. Menstrual and reproductive factors and the mortality risk of gastric cancer in Japanese menopausal females. Cancer Causes Control 14, 53–59 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022596104796

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