Salty foods and risk of gastric cancer: Overview of the evidence Salted foods and gastric cancer

In most countries, humans consume a large amount of salt (10 g or more per day), although WHO recommendations suggest to limit salt intake to no more than 5 g/day. Gastric cancer is a common neoplasia and dietary factors, especially salt consumption, are considered relevant to its causation. Epidemiological investigations indicated a dose-dependent positive association and, in particular, a meta-analysis of the available prospective studies detected a strong adverse effect of salt intake on the risk of gastric cancer in the general population. Also experimental studies supported this association and suggested an unfavourable synergistic action of high salt intake and Helicobacter pylori infection. This article focuses on the epidemiological evidence concerning the association between excess salt rich-food consumption and risk of gastric cancer, and highlights the potential mechanisms whereby salt excess may favour the development of gastric cancer.