High Retinol Intake Drops Gastric Cancer Rate

STOCKHOLM, SwedenHigher intakes of vitamin A, retinol and provitamin A carotenoids may reduce the risk of gastric cancer, according to a prospective cohort study in more than 82,000 Swedish adults (Am J Clin Nutr, 85, 2:497-503, 2007). Swedish researchers, coordinated through the Karolinska Institute, examined the association between intakes of vitamin A, retinol and specific cartenoids and the risk of gastric cancer in adults aged 45 to 83. During a mean seven-year follow-up, 139 incident cases of gastric cancer were diagnosed. High intakes of vitamin A and retinol from foods only (dietary intake), from foods and supplements combined (total intake), and from dietary alpha-carotene and beta-carotene (provitamin A carotenoids) were associated with a lower risk of gastric cancer. Compared with adults in the lowest quartile of intake of specific compounds, those with the highest intake of total vitamin A had a 47-percent reduced risk; total retinol dropped the risk by 44 percent, beta-carotene by 45 percent, alpha-carotene by half. Previous research has suggested vitamin A may influence gastric carcinogenesis through its role in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation.