Journal
GUT
Volume 60, Issue 5, Pages 618-623Publisher
B M J PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1136/gut.2010.225854
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, the National Cancer Institute, at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background Cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Cysteine, known to be involved in a myriad of immunomodulatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-carcinogenic pathways, has not been investigated in the aetiology of oesophageal or gastric cancers. To examine the relationship between serum cysteine concentration and risk of these cancers we conducted a nested caseecohort study within the General Population Nutrition Intervention Trial in Linxian, China. Methods 498 oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) and 255 gastric cardia adenocarcinomas (GCAs) were matched by age and sex to 947 individuals from the wider cohort. We calculated HRs and 95% CIs using the caseecohort estimator for the Cox proportional hazards models, stratified on age and sex, with adjustment for potential confounders. Results Higher concentrations of serum cysteine were significantly associated with a lower risk of both OSCC and GCA. For those in the highest quartile of serum cysteine, compared to those in the lowest, the multivariate HRs were 0.70 for OSCC (95% CI 0.51 to 0.98) and 0.59 for GCA (95% CI 0.38 to 0.91). These associations were dose dependent (p for trend = 0.006 and 0.008, respectively). These inverse associations were not significantly modified by other risk factors, with the exception of age, where a stronger association was noted among persons in the older age strata. Conclusion Higher serum concentrations of cysteine were associated with a significantly reduced risk of OSCC and GCA. Cysteine should be further investigated for its potential as a chemopreventive agent for upper gastrointestinal cancers.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available