Nasopharyngeal cancer has been shown to be associated with a diet high in nickel and excessive intake of nitrosamines, and dishes containing these two ingredients should not be eaten.
Nasopharyngeal cancer is one of the high incidence malignant tumors in China. Epidemiological survey data show that Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi are the high incidence areas of nasopharyngeal cancer in the world. Local people have the custom of eating pickled and smoked food, and the nickel element contained in the environmental soil and water quality is also high, and animal experiments have confirmed that nickel can promote nitrosamine-induced nasopharyngeal cancer.
In Guangdong Province, where nasopharyngeal cancer is highly prevalent, babies are exposed to salted fish and other pickled foods as their first contact after they are weaned. Dried fish and Cantonese preserved meat are also associated with the development of nasopharyngeal cancer. All of these foods have nitrite, a precursor of nitrosamines, in the pickles. When the pH of human gastric juice is 1 to 3, nitrite or nitrate (which needs to be reduced to nitrite by cells) can synthesize nitrosamine compounds with secondary amines in cells.
Nickel content of trace elements in rice and water is higher in high incidence areas of nasopharyngeal cancer than in low incidence areas, and nickel content in hair of nasopharyngeal cancer patients is also high. Vitamin deficiency and sex hormone imbalance can also change the sensitivity of mucosa to carcinogens.
Therefore, nasopharyngeal cancer patients should actively avoid eating salted and smoked food and effectively get rid of the diet containing nickel.