Effect of genetic ancestry to the risk of susceptibility to gastric cancer in a mixed population of the Brazilian Amazon

BACKGROUND: Global literature describes differences in the incidence of gastric cancer among populations. For instance, Europeans have lower incidence rates of gastric cancer in relation to Latin and Asian populations, particularly Korean and Japanese populations. However, only a few studies have been able to verify the occurrence of gastric cancer in admixed populations with high interethnic degree mix, such as the Brazilian Amazon region. RESULTS: We observed an increase in European ancestry in the control group compared to the case group (47% vs. 41%). Using increments of 10%, compared to categorical distribution of European ancestry in the sample, we found a difference in the contribution between cases and controls (p = 0.03). Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the influence of European ancestry in susceptibility to gastric cancer in the sample. According to the adopted model, for each 10% increase in European ancestry, there is a 20% decrease chance of developing gastric cancer (P = 0.0121; OR = 0.81; 95% CI 0.54–0.83). CONCLUSION: Overall, the results suggest that a greater contribution of European ancestry can be a protective factor for the development of gastric cancer in the studied Amazon population. It can help to establish protocols able to predict susceptibility to gastric cancer in admixed populations. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-2963-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.