Objective: To study the effects of soybean products consumption on the risk of gastric cancer.
Methods: Literatures published in English and Chinese reporting the relationship between soybean product consumption and gastric cancer from 1988 to 2008 were searched in this study. Fifty-three relevant articles were selected and 28 of them met the criteria. Meta-analysis was applied to estimate the combined odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) between soybean product consumption and gastric cancer.
Results: A total of 28 independent studies were selected including 16 case-control studies, 10 cohort studies and 2 cross sectional studies. The random-effect model was used due to the heterogeneity among these studies. The overall ORs (95%CI) of Meta-analysis on subjects who consumed soybean products, tofu and miso were 0.58 (0.52 - 0.65), 0.90 (0.80 - 1.00) and 1.18 (1.09 - 1.28), respectively.
Conclusion: Consumption of soybean products and tofu was inversely associated with gastric cancer, while miso consumption could increase the risk to gastric cancer.