Risk of ovarian carcinoma and consumption of vitamins A, C, and E and specific carotenoids (original) (raw)

Consumption of vegetables and fruits and risk of ovarian carcinoma

Cancer, 2005

The intake of vegetables and fruits has been thought to protect against breast cancer. Most of the evidence comes from case-control studies, but a recent pooled analysis of the relatively few published cohort studies suggests no significantly reduced breast cancer risk is associated with vegetable and fruit consumption.

Fruits and Vegetables and Ovarian Cancer Risk in a Pooled Analysis of 12 Cohort Studies

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2005

Because fruits and vegetables are rich in bioactive compounds with potential cancer-preventive actions, increased consumption may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. Evidence on the association between fruit and vegetable intake and ovarian cancer risk has not been consistent. We analyzed and pooled the primary data from 12 prospective studies in North America and Europe. Fruit and vegetable intake was measured at baseline in each study using a validated foodfrequency questionnaire. To summarize the association between fruit and vegetable intake and ovarian cancer, study-specific relative risks (RR) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model, and then combined using a random-effects model. Among 560,441 women, 2,130 cases of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer occurred during a maximum follow-up of 7 to 22 years across studies. Total fruit intake was not associated with ovarian cancer risk-the pooled multivariate RR for the highest versus the lowest quartile of intake was 1.06 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.92-1.21; P value, test for trend = 0.73; P value, test for between-studies heterogeneity = 0.74]. Similarly, results for total vegetable intake indicated no significant association (pooled multivariate RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.78-1.04, for the highest versus the lowest quartile; P value, test for trend = 0.06; P value, test for between-studies heterogeneity = 0.31). Intakes of botanically defined fruit and vegetable groups and individual fruits and vegetables were also not associated with ovarian cancer risk. Associations for total fruits and vegetables were similar for different histologic types. These results suggest that fruit and vegetable consumption in adulthood has no important association with the risk of ovarian cancer.

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2005

Objective: The association between consumption of fruit and vegetables and risk of ovarian cancer is still unclear from a prospective point of view. Methods: Female participants (n = 325,640) of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, free of any cancer at baseline, were followed on average for 6.3 years to develop ovarian cancer. During 2,049,346 personyears, 581 verified cases of primary, invasive epithelial ovarian cancer were accrued. Consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as subgroups of vegetables, estimated from validated dietary questionnaires and calibrated thereafter, was related to ovarian cancer incidence in multivariable hazard regression models. Histologic subtype specific analyses were done.

Fruit, vegetables, and antioxidants in childhood and risk of adult cancer: the Boyd Orr cohort

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2003

Study objective: To examine associations between food and nutrient intake, measured in childhood, and adult cancer in a cohort with over 60 years follow up. Design and setting: The study is based on the Boyd Orr cohort. Intake of fruit and vegetables, energy, vitamins C and E, carotene, and retinol was assessed from seven day household food inventories carried out during a study of family diet and health in 16 rural and urban areas of England and Scotland in 1937-39. Participants: 4999 men and women, from largely working class backgrounds, who had been children in the households participating in the prewar survey. Analyses are based on 3878 traced subjects with full data on diet and social circumstances. Main results: Over the follow up period there were 483 incident malignant neoplasms. Increased childhood fruit intake was associated with reduced risk of incident cancer. In fully adjusted logistic regression models, odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) with increasing quartiles of fruit consumption were 1.0 (reference), 0.66 (0.48 to 0.90), 0.70 (0.51 to 0.97), 0.62 (0.43 to 0.90); p value for linear trend=0.02. The association was weaker for cancer mortality. There was no clear pattern of association between the other dietary factors and total cancer risk. Conclusions: Childhood fruit consumption may have a long term protective effect on cancer risk in adults. Further prospective studies, with individual measures of diet are required to further elucidate these relations.

Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cancer: a prospective cohort study

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008

Background: There is probable evidence that some types of fruit and vegetables provide protection against many cancers. Objective: We hypothesized that fruit and vegetable intakes are inversely related to the incidence of total cancers among women and men aged .50 y. Design: We performed a prospective study among the cohort of the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. We merged the MyPyramid Equivalents Database (version 1.0) with food-frequency-questionnaire data to calculate cup equivalents for fruit and vegetables. From 1995 to 2003, we identified 15,792 and 35,071 cancer cases in 195,229 women and 288,109 men, respectively. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate multivariate relative risks (RRs) and 95% CIs associated with the highest compared with the lowest quintile (Q) of fruit and vegetable intakes. Results: Fruit intake was not associated with the risk of total cancer among women (RR Q5 vs Q1 ¼ 0.99; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.05; P trend ¼ 0.059) or men (RR Q5 vs Q1 ¼ 0.98; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.02; P for trend ¼ 0.17). Vegetable intake was not associated with risk of total cancer among women (RR Q5 vs Q1 ¼ 1.04; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.09; P for trend ¼ 0.084), but was associated with a significant decrease in risk in men (RR Q5 vs Q1 ¼ 0.94; 95% CI: 0.91, 0.97; P trend ¼ 0.004). This significant finding among men was no longer evident when we limited the analysis to men who never smoked (RR Q5 vs Q1 ¼ 0.97; 95% CI: 0.91, 1.04; P for trend ¼ 0.474). Conclusions: Intake of fruit and vegetables was generally unrelated to total cancer incidence in this cohort. Residual confounding by smoking is a likely explanation for the observed inverse association with vegetable intake among men.

Intake of the major carotenoids and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in a pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies

International Journal of Cancer, 2006

Carotenoids, found in fruits and vegetables, have the potential to protect against cancer because of their properties, including their functions as precursors to vitamin A and as antioxidants. We examined the associations between intakes of a-carotene, b-carotene, b-cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin and lycopene and the risk of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. The primary data from 10 prospective cohort studies in North America and Europe were analyzed and then pooled. Carotenoid intakes were estimated from a validated food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline in each study. Study-specific relative risks (RR) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model and then combined using a random-effects model. Among 521,911 women, 2,012 cases of ovarian cancer occurred during a follow-up of 7-22 years across studies. The major carotenoids were not significantly associated with the risk of ovarian cancer. The pooled multivariate RRs (95% confidence intervals) were 1.00 (0.95-1.05) for a 600 lg/day increase in a-carotene intake, 0.96 (0.93-1.03) for a 2,500 lg/day increase in b-carotene intake, 0.99 (0.97-1.02) for a 100 lg/day increase in b-cryptoxanthin intake, 0.98 (0.94-1.03) for a 2,500 lg/day increase in lutein/zeaxanthin intake and 1.01 (0.97-1.05) for a 4,000 lg/day increase in lycopene intake. These associations did not appreciably differ by study (p-values, tests for between-studies heterogeneity >0.17). Also, the observed associations did not vary substantially by subgroups of the population or by histological type of ovarian cancer. These results suggest that consumption of the major carotenoids during adulthood does not play a major role in the incidence of ovarian cancer. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Intake of fruits and vegetables, and risk of endometrial cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

Cancer Epidemiology, 2010

Fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of phytochemicals which may have anti-carcinogenic effects. Although the results of case-control studies have suggested a possible protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake on the risk of endometrial carcinoma, few cohort studies have examined this association. We used data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study to assess the association of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as intake of specific botanical groupings of fruits and vegetables, with endometrial cancer risk among 112,088 women who completed a foodfrequency questionnaire at baseline, in 1995-1996. During 8 years of follow-up 1142 incident cases of endometrial cancer were ascertained. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). After adjustment for covariates, HRs for the highest compared to the lowest quintile of total vegetable and total fruit intake were 1.30 (95% CI 1.04-1.61, P for trend 0.05) and 1.09 (95% CI 0.90-1.33, P for trend 0.55), respectively. No inverse associations were observed for intake of any of 13 botanical groupings of fruits and vegetables. Results from this large prospective study do not support a protective role of a high intake of fruits or vegetables on the risk of endometrial cancer.

Fruit, vegetables, and the prevention of cancer

Nutrition, 2003

OBJECTIVE: A great deal of epidemiologic evidence has indicated that fruits and vegetables are protective against numerous forms of cancer. However, there are many gaps in our knowledge. METHODS: In this pilot study we reviewed more than 200 cohort and case-control studies to determine the shape of the dose-response relationship (i.e., how the risk reduction per extra serving of fruits and vegetables changes with the actual intake of these foods). We found major barriers to investigating this. As part of this pilot study we also investigated whether specific fruits and vegetables are responsible for the anticancer action of these foods or whether a wide variety is required for optimal protection. If the former is correct, then fruits and vegetables may contain one or a small number of "magic bullets"; if the latter is correct, then a "teamwork" concept may be valid. RESULTS: Different findings suggested that the teamwork concept is much more likely. Many studies, especially older ones, have ignored potential confounding variables such as energy intake, alcohol consumption, physical activity, body mass index, smoking, and socioeconomic status (although many recent studies have adjusted for education). Other potential confounders that have generally been ignored are consumption of whole grain cereals and the use of vitamin and mineral supplements. CONCLUSIONS: The inverse association between intake of fruits and vegetables and the risk of cancer of the colon, breast, and stomach has generally been much stronger in case-control than in cohort studies. We have no clear explanation for this.

Prospective Study of Diet and Ovarian Cancer

American Journal of Epidemiology, 1999

Evidence on dietary risk factors for ovarian cancer is inconsistent, but some studies have suggested positive associations with dietary fat, lactose, and cholesterol and negative associations with green and yellow vegetable intake. By using information from the Iowa Women's Health Study, the authors investigated the association of epithelial ovarian cancer with dietary factors in a prospective study of 29,083 postmenopausal women. Dietary information was ascertained via a food frequency questionnaire mailed to participants in 1986. During 10 years of follow-up (1986-1995), 139 of the women developed incident epithelial ovarian cancer. Incidence of the disease was not associated with dietary fat intake. Lactose and cholesterol showed moderately elevated risks. Multivariable-adjusted relative risks for the lowest to highest quartiles of lactose intake were 1.00, 1.38, 1.25, and 1.60 (p for trend = 0.12). For cholesterol, the corresponding values were 1.00, 1.34, 1.86, and 1.55 (p for trend = 0.06). Consumption of eggs was also associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Multivariableadjusted relative risks for increasing frequency of egg consumption were 1.00 (<1/week), 1.12 (1/week), 2.04 (2-4/week), and 1.81 (>4/week) (p for trend = 0.04). Total vegetable intake was modestly and inversely associated with the risk of ovarian cancer (p for trend = 0.21). Green leafy vegetable intake was more strongly associated with a decreased risk: multivariable-adjusted relative risks for the lowest to highest intake levels were 1.00, 0.80, 0.87, and 0.44 (p = 0.01). These findings are generally in agreement with the results from previous, mostly case-control studies of diet and epithelial ovarian cancer. Am J Epidemiol 1999;149:21-31. diet; nutrition; ovarian neoplasms; postmenopausal; prospective studies; risk; risk factors Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate among the gynecologic cancers and is the fifth most common cause of death from cancer among women in the United States; recent estimates showed that in 1998, approximately 25,400 women would be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and that 14,500 women would die from it (1). Despite the large public health impact of this disease, relatively little is known regarding its etiology. Although the risk of ovarian cancer is elevated in women who have a family history of the disease, and parity and use of oral contraceptives are recognized as factors that reduce the risk (2), few other factors have been examined adequately. That environmental factors play a key role in the etiology of this disease is suggested by the fivefold international vari