Meta-Analysis

. 2025 Apr 16;15(1):13099.

doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96658-4.

Fish consumption and gastric cancer within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project

Carlotta Franchi^{1

2}, Ilaria Ardoino³, Sara Mandelli³, Linia Patel⁴, Claudio Pelucchi⁴, Rossella Bonzi⁴, M Constanza Camargo⁵, Charles S Rabkin⁵, Linda M Liao⁵, Rashmi Sinha⁵, Kenneth C Johnson⁶, Jinfu Hu⁷, Zuo-Feng Zhang⁸, Domenico Palli⁹, Monica Ferraroni^{4

10}, Eva Negri^{4

11}, Federica Turati⁴, Guo-Pei Yu¹², Nuno Lunet^{13

14

15}, Samantha Morais^{13

14

15}, Lizbeth López-Carrillo¹⁶, Shoichiro Tsugane^{17

18}, Akihisa Hidaka¹⁹, Reza Malekzadeh²⁰, David Zaridze²¹, Dmitry Maximovitch²¹, Jesus Vioque^{22

23}, Sandra Gonzalez-Palacios^{22

23}, Mary H Ward^{24

25}, Nuria Aragonés^{23

26}, Gemma Castaño-Vinyals^{23

27

28

29}, Maria Paula Curado³⁰, Emmanuel Dias-Neto³⁰, Gerson Shigueaki Hamada³¹, Raul Ulises Hernández-Ramirez³², Mohammadreza Pakseresht^{20

33

34}, Farhad Pourfarzi³⁵, Lina Mu³⁶, Areti Lagiou³⁷, Pagona Lagiou^{38

39}, Malaquias López-Cervantes⁴⁰, Alberto Dolci⁴¹, Stefania Boccia^{42

43}, Roberta Pastorino⁴², Paolo Boffetta^{11

44}, Barbara D'Avanzo³, Carlo La Vecchia⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Pharmacoepidemiology and Human Nutrition, Department of Health Policy, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri, 2, 20156, Milano, Italy. carlotta.franchi@marionegri.it.
² Italian Institute for Planetary Health (IIPH), Milan, Italy. carlotta.franchi@marionegri.it.
³ Laboratory of Pharmacoepidemiology and Human Nutrition, Department of Health Policy, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri, 2, 20156, Milano, Italy.
⁴ Branch of Medical Statistics, Biometry, and Epidemiology "G.A. Maccacaro", Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.
⁶ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁷ Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁹ Cancer Risk Factors and Life-Style Epidemiology Unit, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network, ISPRO, Florence, Italy.
¹⁰ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
¹² Medical Informatics Center, Peking University, Peking, China.
¹³ EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁴ Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal.
¹⁵ Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁶ Mexico National Institute of Public Health, Morelos, Mexico.
¹⁷ Division of Cohort Research, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁸ International University of Health and Welfare Graduate School of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁹ Division of Epidemiology, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁰ Digestive Oncology Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
²¹ Department of Clinical Epidemiology, N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center for Oncology, Moscow, Russia.
²² Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernandez (ISABIAL-UMH), Alicante, Spain.
²³ Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
²⁴ Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA.
²⁵ Cancer Epidemiology Section, Public Health Division, Department of Health of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
²⁶ Cancer Surveillance and Registry Unit, Public Health Division, Department of Health of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
²⁷ IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
²⁸ Barcelona Institute for Global Health-ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.
²⁹ Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
³⁰ Centro Internacional de Pesquisa, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
³¹ Nikkei Disease Prevention Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
³² Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
³³ Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
³⁴ Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³⁵ Digestive Disease Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
³⁶ Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
³⁷ Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
³⁸ Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³⁹ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴⁰ Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, 04510, Coyoacán, Mexico.
⁴¹ Research and Development Department, Bolton Food SpA, Milan, Italy.
⁴² Section of Hygiene, University Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
⁴³ Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
⁴⁴ Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.

PMID: 40240417
PMCID: PMC12003686
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-96658-4

Meta-Analysis

Fish consumption and gastric cancer within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project

Carlotta Franchi et al. Sci Rep. 2025.

. 2025 Apr 16;15(1):13099.

doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96658-4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Pharmacoepidemiology and Human Nutrition, Department of Health Policy, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri, 2, 20156, Milano, Italy. carlotta.franchi@marionegri.it.
² Italian Institute for Planetary Health (IIPH), Milan, Italy. carlotta.franchi@marionegri.it.
³ Laboratory of Pharmacoepidemiology and Human Nutrition, Department of Health Policy, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri, 2, 20156, Milano, Italy.
⁴ Branch of Medical Statistics, Biometry, and Epidemiology "G.A. Maccacaro", Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.
⁶ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁷ Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁹ Cancer Risk Factors and Life-Style Epidemiology Unit, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network, ISPRO, Florence, Italy.
¹⁰ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
¹² Medical Informatics Center, Peking University, Peking, China.
¹³ EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁴ Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal.
¹⁵ Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁶ Mexico National Institute of Public Health, Morelos, Mexico.
¹⁷ Division of Cohort Research, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁸ International University of Health and Welfare Graduate School of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁹ Division of Epidemiology, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁰ Digestive Oncology Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
²¹ Department of Clinical Epidemiology, N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center for Oncology, Moscow, Russia.
²² Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernandez (ISABIAL-UMH), Alicante, Spain.
²³ Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
²⁴ Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA.
²⁵ Cancer Epidemiology Section, Public Health Division, Department of Health of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
²⁶ Cancer Surveillance and Registry Unit, Public Health Division, Department of Health of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
²⁷ IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
²⁸ Barcelona Institute for Global Health-ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.
²⁹ Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
³⁰ Centro Internacional de Pesquisa, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
³¹ Nikkei Disease Prevention Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
³² Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
³³ Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
³⁴ Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³⁵ Digestive Disease Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
³⁶ Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
³⁷ Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
³⁸ Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³⁹ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴⁰ Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, 04510, Coyoacán, Mexico.
⁴¹ Research and Development Department, Bolton Food SpA, Milan, Italy.
⁴² Section of Hygiene, University Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
⁴³ Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
⁴⁴ Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.

PMID: 40240417
PMCID: PMC12003686
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-96658-4

Abstract

Gastric cancer is among the most common cancer and cause of cancer death. We conducted a meta-analysis of 25 case-control studies from the Stomach cancer Pooling Project to assess the association between fish or canned fish consumption and the risk of gastric cancer. 10,431 cases and 24,903 controls were available. We found no association between fish consumption and risk of gastric cancer (pooled odds ratios (OR) = 0.99; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86-1.13, for at least one serving/week vs none). Geographical differences were found: in Asia an increased intake of fish was associated with a lower stomach cancer risk. In the sensitivity analyses, fish consumption was associated to a lower risk of gastric cancer in models adjusted for family history of gastric cancer (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.72-0.89) and Helicobacter Pylori infection (OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.60-0.88), but not for body mass index or energy intake. Seven studies collected information on canned fish (4525 cases and 8073 controls). No association was found for canned fish (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.82-1.13). In conclusion, our results provide evidence that fish and canned fish intake are not associated with gastric cancer risk, although geographical differences have been highlighted, with a lower risk of gastric cancer in Asia.

Keywords: Canned fish; Consortium; Fish; Pooled analysis; Stomach neoplasms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Study-specific and pooled odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals of gastric cancer risk for fish consumption (≥1 serving/week vs <1 serving/week).

**Fig. 2**
Study-specific and pooled odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals of gastric cancer risk for canned fish consumption (≥1 serving/week vs <1 serving/week).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Fish consumption and gastric cancer within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project

Affiliations

Fish consumption and gastric cancer within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical