Situación en Chile de algunos tumores del tracto gastrointestinal: consideraciones nutricionales

Resumen

The importance of the environmental factors, particularly of diet in determining neoplasias of the gastrointestinal tract is of main concern in the present. The objective of this study was to verify the trends of mortality of gastric, colon and biliary cancer as well as its distribution by age sex and geographic area. This was done as a first step in identifying the nutritional factors that could have determined these tumors in the Chilean population. National data were used to build temporal series from 1977 until 1989.Regional data was available to compare the cancer mortality rates between 1977-79 and 1987-89. The mortality rate of gastric cancer decreased up to 1986 keeping up stable from then. It is more frequent in men, in older than 45 years and in regions with greater agricultural production. The cancer of the colon maintained stable rates during the period, being higher in females especially in womenolderthan65 years. Its geographic distribution is homogeneous except for the region of Valparaiso and Magallanes that presented higher rates than the rest of the country. The mortality rate of gall bladder cancer has increased in the period; it is most prevalent in females and in older of 65 years. It was also verified an increase in the mortality rates where the gastric cancer is higher. It is discussed a nutritional hypothesis about the differences encountered and recommendations about new approaches for research are proposed.