A Medical Decision Support System to Assess Risk Factors for Gastric Cancer Based on Fuzzy Cognitive Map

Table 1

Risk factors of GC.

Risk factors	Description
C1: sex	Studies show that men around the world are diagnosed with GC almost twice as much as women [18].
C2: blood group	Scientific research shows that there is a significant relationship between blood type and GC. The blood groups A and O have the highest and lowest incidence of GC, respectively [19].
C3: BMI	High BMI increases GC [20]. In 2016, the IACR formed a team of specialists. They reported that GC is one of the diseases caused by excessive fat gain and high BMI [21].
C4: age	The risk of GC increases with age [18, 22, 23].
C5: motility	People with any regular physical activity have a lower risk of GC than nonactive people. According to the US Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (2018), moderate evidence showed that physical activity reduces the risk of various cancers, including GC [21].
C6: alcohol consumption	Regular alcohol consumption increases the risk of GC [24, 25].
C7: exposed to chemicals	Some jobs exposed to chemicals, such as cement and chromium, increase the risk of GC [26].
C8: smoking	Smoking increases the risk of GC [27, 28].
C9: salt consumption	High salt intake increases the risk of GC [23, 29, 30].
C10: consumption of vegetable	The daily consumption of 200-200 grams of vegetables per day may reduce the risk of GC [31].
C11: consumption of smoked food	The smoked food is a great source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Scientific research has shown that this biopollutant is one of the factors involved in many cancers, including GC [32, 33].
C12: milk consumption	Increasing dairy consumption, such as milk, is associated with a lower risk of GC [34].
C13: fast food consumption	Fast food consumption is one of the factors affecting the incidence of GC [35].
C14: consumption of fried foods	The results of scientific studies show that people who use a lot of fried foods in their diet are at increased risk of GC [27, 28].
C15: fruit consumption	A daily consumption of 120-150 grams of fruit per day may reduce the risk of GC [31].
C16: food storage container	Today’s food containers are often made of chemicals, such as plastics that contain bisphenol A. Thus, it can be the source of various types of cancer and hormonal disorders [36].
C17: baking dish	The use of metal containers, such as aluminum for cooking, can be a factor in the development of diseases because these types of metals, when exposed to heat, emit a small amount of lead [37].
C18: history of allergy	Recent studies indicate that the history of allergic diseases is associated with a lower risk of GC [38].
C19: family history of cancer	A family history of cancer in certain specific sites may be associated with a risk of GC [39].
C20: family of GC	This risk factor is strongly associated with different types of GC [40, 41].
C21: history of cardiovascular disease	People with cardiovascular disease are at a lower risk of GC because of using some drugs [42].
C22: general status of cancer	People with a good general health status are less likely to be at risk of GC [43].
C23: history of gastric reflux	Gastric reflux causes a 3-10% percent increase in being at risk of GC [44].
C24: history of stomach surgery	Gastric surgeries, such as gastric ulcers, may increase the risk of cancer [45].
C25: history of stomach infection	Helicobacter pylorus is the most important risk factor for GC [46–48].
C26: mucosa status	Gastric ulcers are considered as a risk factor for GC [35].
C27: history of gastric inflammation	The history of gastric inflammation is one of the most important factors in the incidence of GC [35].