Dietary factors and lung cancer risk in Japanese: with special reference to fish consumption and adenocarcinomas

To investigate risk modification for lung cancer with diet in Japanese, we conducted a hospital-based case–control study and evaluated variation in influence with the histological type. We recruited 367 male and 240 female cases with adenocarcinomas, and 381 male and 57 female cases with squamous cell and small cell carcinomas. Controls comprised 2964 male and 1189 female cancer-free outpatients matched for sex and age with the cases. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for lung cancer were calculated with adjustment for potential confounding factors, using an unconditional logistic model. We found decreased ORs for adenocarcinomas in both males (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.31–0.84) and females (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.94) who consumed cooked/raw fish, but not dried/salted fish at the highest quartile frequency, compared with the lowest. Soybean curd consumption was associated with a decreased OR for female adenocarcinomas. Decreased ORs for squamous cell and small cell carcinomas were observed in males with frequent consumption of raw and green vegetables, fruit and milk, but consumption of carrot, pumpkin, egg and coffee was associated with increased ORs. This study suggests cooked/raw fish consumption lowers the risk of adenocarcinoma of the lung in Japanese. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com