Meeting of StoP project consortium members in Italy

The initiative to create the consortium belongs to the association of Italian research groups, which is the most widely represented in this circle of participants. As part of the project, epidemiological and clinical data on gastric cancer are collected and analyzed. The StoP project was started in 2012. Currently, the number of research groups has reached 34 and includes data on 13,121 gastric cancer patients and 31,420 control group participants.

The consortium briefly presented an overview of what has been done so far - the total number of publications, the results of the collected data analysis and suggestions for new research directions. An overview was also given of the latest working group that joined the project from the University of Bologna.

At the event, the preliminary results of the sub-projects carried out this year were presented on: the effect of the Mediterranean diet, the role of fish and seafood, body mass index (2-10 years before the diagnosis of the disease), fiber intake, folate, vitamin A, retinol, calcium, magnesium, group B vitamins , association of total antioxidant and copper intake with gastric cancer. In addition, a preliminary analysis of the association of statin and aspirin use with tumor development was presented at the conference.

The data of Latvian patients are currently included in the analysis of risk factors for the development of early gastric cancer. The participants of the event were presented with the preliminary results and the preparation of the publication will be started soon.

From the new projects, Latvian data (LU KPMI Biobank) is planned to be included in the research section on the interaction of aspects of the genome and diet (lead researcher Stefania Boccia, Un. Catollica Rome).

The conference discussed several approaches to the creation of risk models (taking into account that stomach cancer is a multifactorial disease, which is influenced by genetic factors of the host organism, environmental factors and infectious agents), including the use of machine learning decision analytical models. They are currently being supplemented with theoretical justification and financial sources are being sought.

The leaders of the panel discussion outlined the directions of future perspectives – the joint analysis of several risk factors, linking the findings of genetic examinations, and called for the submission of new sub-project initiatives.