Diet is believed to play a major role in the development of gastric cancer. It is very well known that salt rich, smoked or poorly preserved foods, nitrates, nitrites have been associated with an increase in gastric cancer. Conversely,

diets high in raw vegetables, fresh fruits (containing vitamin C, antioxidants) are associated with decreased risk (7-9). Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with an approximately two-fold increased risk of developing gastric cancer (10-12). Pylori H have been categorized as a “Group-1 human carcinogen” by the International Agency for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Research on Cancer (13). The role of tobacco in the occurrence of gastric cancers cannot be undermined (6). The state of Manipur, located in the north eastern region of

India bordering Myanmar, has different customs, food habits, life-style, diverse ethnic Brefeldin A groups, and the pattern of tobacco use as compared to the rest of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the country. Majority of the people here consume dried salted fish, fermented, smoked and pickled meat and the use of tobacco is also widely prevalent. We undertook this study to analyse the demographic pattern, clinical presentations, pathological Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical characteristics and stage at presentation of stomach cancer at Regional Cancer centre, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), situated in Imphal, Manipur state, is the biggest referral centre for the neighbouring North eastern states in India Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and bordering Myanmar. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective study using the data base of 158 patients

of primary gastric cancer diagnosed in the Department of Surgery at Regional Cancer Centre, RIMS, Manipur, India from July 2009 to June 2013. All these patients were diagnosed on clinical, radiological and endoscopic examination. The diagnosis was confirmed pathologically after the histopathological examination of either the resected specimen or the endoscopic biopsy specimen. All the patients with a confirmed gastric carcinoma were included in the study. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The cases with primary gastric lymphoma, gastro intestinal stromal tumours (GIST) and gastric melanoma were excluded. Restaging was performed according to AJCC staging system (7th edition) based on the available clinical and radiological findings. The compiled data included and demographic data, medical history of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, family history of gastric cancer, dietary habits (intake of fermented, smoked meat, red meat), drinking water source, smoking habits, consumption of alcohol, chief presenting complaints, histological grade, TNM staging and the site of metastasis. Descriptive statistics were used for analysing the data using SPSS version 20 and results were presented in percentage and simple frequency. Results This study included 158 patients with male to female ratio of 2.16:1, distribution of age varied from 28 to 91 years old. Majority of the men were in the age group of more than 60 years old (45.