Protease inhibitors and carcinoma of the esophagus

✍ Scribed by Alastair M. Sammon

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 64 KB
• Volume: 83
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980801)83:3<405::aid-cncr6>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

Background:

Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is endemic in parts of south africa. previous case-control studies have shown many associations but no clear etiologic pathway has been established.

Methods:

A case-control study of dietary and social factors was performed for 130 patient/control pairs matched for age, gender, and educational level. staple diet, consumption of wild vegetables, use of tobacco, and traditional beer consumption were compared between the two groups.

Results:

New significant associations were found with the consumption of beans (p = 0.016) and consumption of the full traditional diet of maize, pumpkin, and beans (p = 0.027). known associations with the consumption of solanum nigrum (p = 0.018) and with smoking (p = 0.002) were confirmed by multiple regression analysis.

Conclusions:

Solanum nigrum, beans, and pumpkin all contain protease inhibitors. suppression of protease inhibitors can lead to overexpression of growth factors in the esophagus, resulting in a proliferative and oncogenic drive.