Green tea consumption and gastric cancer in Japanese: a pooled analysis of six cohort studies

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