The combined effects of six main preventable risk factors are linked to high rates of oesophageal cancer in the Islamic Republic of Iran

New results from an international study, published online in the journal Gastroenterology, provide evidence on how the combined effects of six main risk factors are responsible for the high rates of oesophageal cancer observed in the north-eastern region of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has some of the highest rates of oesophageal cancer anywhere in the world.

The results are based on more than 10 years of follow-up of 50 000 individuals as part of the Golestan Cohort Study, which was initiated in 2004 by the Digestive Diseases Research Institute of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the United States National Cancer Institute.

The six most important risk factors identified were drinking hot tea, smoking opium, low intake of fruits and vegetables, drinking unpiped water, exposure to indoor air pollution, and excessive tooth loss.

Sheikh M, Poustchi H, Pourshams A, Etemadi A, Islami F, Khoshnia M, et al.
Individual and combined effects of environmental risk factors for esophageal cancer based on results from the Golestan Cohort Study
Gastroenterology, Published online 3 January 2019;
https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.024

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