Family history of cancer and the risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer in southeastern Iran: a case-control study

Upper gastrointestinal cancer (UGIC), including gastric and esophageal cancers, is one of the major causes of cancer related death in the world. The aim of this study was to explore the relation between family history of cancer and the risk of UGIC in Iran.

The present study is a case-control study conducted on 106 patients with UGIC, 106 hospital controls and 106 population controls that were matched in terms of age and sex. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data through a standard questionnaire. Logistic regression models by conditional forward method were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CIs) and to determine the significant relationship between UGIC and family history of cancer. SPSS 22 software and chi square test was used for data analysis.

Family history of cancer showed a significant relationship with UGIC in the case group-hospital control in the first and second degree relatives (9.04 - 2.18), respectively: 95% CI) OR = 4.44 and (1.3 - 9.27): 95% CI) OR = 3.48, in the case-control group of population in first and second degree relatives (3.74-75.75: 95% CI) OR = 9.43 and (83-21-97) / 1): 95% CI) OR = 6.35.

The findings of this study showed that a family history of cancer, especially in the first-degree relatives, increases the risk of UGIC, which requires more extensive studies with a larger sample size.