Dietary Carotenoids and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in a Pooled Analysis of 11 Cohort Studies

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 165; no. 3; pp. 246 - 255
• Main Authors: Männistö, Satu, Yaun, Shiaw-Shyuan, Hunter, David J., Spiegelman, Donna, Adami, Hans-Olov, Albanes, Demetrius, van den Brandt, Piet A., Buring, Julie E., Cerhan, James R., Colditz, Graham A., Freudenheim, Jo L., Fuchs, Charles S., Giovannucci, Edward, Goldbohm, R. Alexandra, Harnack, Lisa, Leitzmann, Michael, McCullough, Marjorie L., Miller, Anthony B., Rohan, Thomas E., Schatzkin, Arthur, Virtamo, Jarmo, Willett, Walter C., Wolk, Alicja, Zhang, Shumin M., Smith-Warner, Stephanie A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01.02.2007; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Analysis. Health state; Antioxidants; Biological and medical sciences; carotenoids; Carotenoids - administration & dosage; Cohort Studies; colonic neoplasms; Colorectal cancer; colorectal neoplasms; Colorectal Neoplasms - epidemiology; Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control; Diet; Diseases of the digestive system; Epidemiology; Europe - epidemiology; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; General aspects; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Meta-analysis; Multivariate Analysis; North America - epidemiology; Proportional Hazards Models; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); rectal neoplasms; Risk; Risk factors; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Tumors; North America; Europe; colonic neoplasms; carotenoids; colorectal neoplasms; cohort studies; meta-analysis; rectal neoplasms; diet; Human; Rectal disease; Colorectal cancer; Risk; Malignant tumor; Epidemiology; Evidence-based medicine; Feeding; Metaanalysis; Colonic disease; Diet therapy; Diet; Cohort study; Risk factor; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Carotenoid; Public health
• ISSN: 0002-9262; 1476-6256; 1476-6256
• DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwk009

Dietary carotenoids have been hypothesized to protect against epithelial cancers. The authors analyzed the associations between intakes of specific carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein + zeaxanthin, and lycopene) and risk of colorectal cancer using the primary data from 11 cohort studies carried out in North America and Europe. Carotenoid intakes were estimated from food frequency questionnaires administered at baseline in each study. During 6–20 years of follow-up between 1980 and 2003, 7,885 incident cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed among 702,647 participants. The authors calculated study-specific multivariate relative risks and then combined them using a random-effects model. In general, intakes of specific carotenoids were not associated with colorectal cancer risk. The pooled multivariate relative risks of colorectal cancer comparing the highest quintile of intake with the lowest ranged from 0.92 for lutein + zeaxanthin to 1.04 for lycopene; only for lutein + zeaxanthin intake was the result borderline statistically significant (95% confidence interval: 0.84, 1.00). The associations observed were generally similar across studies, for both sexes, and for colon cancer and rectal cancer. These pooled data did not suggest that carotenoids play an important role in the etiology of colorectal cancer.