BACKGROUND: There is evidence to support the hypothesis that the main determinants of gastric carcinogenesis act in childhood and adolescence. Based on the assumption that husband and wife share many of these factors (dietary habits and other exogenous exposures) only in adult life, the aim of the study was to demonstrate that the spouses of patients who died from gastric cancer (GC) are not at increased risk of GC death. METHODS: The study was conducted on data from the province of Forlì (north eastern Italy). The anonymous GC death records provided by the Italian National Statistics Bureau for the years 1969-1988 were matched by month/year of birth, sex, marital status, month/year and place of death with those of the population registries in the area. The subjects identified had a total of 2720 wives or husbands. Gastric cancer mortality observed in the cohort of spouses was compared with that of the general population using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), calculated by applying the sex-, age-, and time period-specific mortality rate in the population to the appropriate person-years at risk in the cohort. RESULTS: The cohort yielded a total of 22 414 person-years. The SMR was 1.1 (95% CI : 0.9-1.5) with a value of 0.9 (95% CI : 0.6-1.5) among males and 1.2 (95% CI : 0.9-1.7) among females. CONCLUSION: The study provided further evidence that the main events in gastric carcinogenesis occur before adult life.
BACKGROUND: There is evidence to support the hypothesis that the main determinants of gastric carcinogenesis act in childhood and adolescence. Based on the assumption that husband and wife share many of these factors (dietary habits and other exogenous exposures) only in adult life, the aim of the study was to demonstrate that the spouses of patients who died from gastric cancer (GC) are not at increased risk of GC death. METHODS: The study was conducted on data from the province of Forlì (north eastern Italy). The anonymous GC death records provided by the Italian National Statistics Bureau for the years 1969-1988 were matched by month/year of birth, sex, marital status, month/year and place of death with those of the population registries in the area. The subjects identified had a total of 2720 wives or husbands. Gastric cancer mortality observed in the cohort of spouses was compared with that of the general population using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), calculated by applying the sex-, age-, and time period-specific mortality rate in the population to the appropriate person-years at risk in the cohort. RESULTS: The cohort yielded a total of 22 414 person-years. The SMR was 1.1 (95% CI : 0.9-1.5) with a value of 0.9 (95% CI : 0.6-1.5) among males and 1.2 (95% CI : 0.9-1.7) among females. CONCLUSION: The study provided further evidence that the main events in gastric carcinogenesis occur before adult life.