PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - M Inoue AU - S Sasazuki AU - K Wakai AU - T Suzuki AU - K Matsuo AU - T Shimazu AU - I Tsuji AU - K Tanaka AU - T Mizoue AU - C Nagata AU - A Tamakoshi AU - N Sawada AU - S Tsugane AU - for the Research Group for the Development and Evaluation of Cancer Prevention Strategies in Japan TI - Green tea consumption and gastric cancer in Japanese: a pooled analysis of six cohort studies AID - 10.1136/gut.2008.166710 DP - 2009 Oct 01 TA - Gut PG - 1323--1332 VI - 58 IP - 10 4099 - http://gut.bmj.com/content/58/10/1323.short 4100 - http://gut.bmj.com/content/58/10/1323.full SO - Gut2009 Oct 01; 58 AB - Background: Previous experimental studies have suggested many possible anti-cancer mechanisms for green tea, but epidemiological evidence for the effect of green tea consumption on gastric cancer risk is conflicting.Objective: To examine the association between green tea consumption and gastric cancer.Methods: We analysed original data from six cohort studies that measured green tea consumption using validated questionnaires at baseline. Hazard ratios (HRs) in the individual studies were calculated, with adjustment for a common set of variables, and combined using a random-effects model.Results: During 2 285 968 person-years of follow-up for a total of 219 080 subjects, 3577 cases of gastric cancer were identified. Compared with those drinking <1 cup/day, no significant risk reduction for gastric cancer was observed with increased green tea consumption in men, even in stratified analyses by smoking status and subsite. In women, however, a significantly decreased risk was observed for those with consumption of ⩾5 cups/day (multivariate-adjusted pooled HR = 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.65 to 0.96). This decrease was also significant for the distal subsite (HR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.50 to 0.96). In contrast, a lack of association for proximal gastric cancer was consistently seen in both men and women.Conclusions: Green tea may decrease the risk of distal gastric cancer in women.