Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice
Dietary fat, cholesterol and colorectal cancer in a prospective study
Abstract
The relationships between consumption of total fat, major dietary fatty acids, cholesterol, consumption of meat and eggs, and the incidence of colorectal cancers were studied in a cohort based on the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey. Baseline (1967–1972) information on habitual food consumption over the preceding year was collected from 9959 men and women free of diagnosed cancer. A total of 109 new colorectal cancer cases were ascertained late 1999. High cholesterol intake was associated with increased risk for colorectal cancers. The relative risk between the highest and lowest quartiles of dietary cholesterol was 3.26 (95% confidence interval 1.54–6.88) after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, occupation, smoking, geographic region, energy intake and consumption of vegetables, fruits and cereals. Consumption of total fat and intake of saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fatty acids were not significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk. Nonsignificant associations were found between consumption of meat and eggs and colorectal cancer risk. The results of the present study indicate that high cholesterol intake may increase colorectal cancer risk, but do not suggest the presence of significant effects of dietary fat intake on colorectal cancer incidence. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (67K).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Armstrong B, Doll R. Environmental factors and cancer incidence and mortality in different countries, with special reference to dietary practices. Int J Cancer. 1975 Apr 15;15(4):617–631. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Awad AB, Fink CS. Phytosterols as anticancer dietary components: evidence and mechanism of action. J Nutr. 2000 Sep;130(9):2127–2130. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bostick RM, Potter JD, Kushi LH, Sellers TA, Steinmetz KA, McKenzie DR, Gapstur SM, Folsom AR. Sugar, meat, and fat intake, and non-dietary risk factors for colon cancer incidence in Iowa women (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 1994 Jan;5(1):38–52. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cohen BI, Raicht RF, Fazzini E. Reduction of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced colon tumors in the rat by cholesterol. Cancer Res. 1982 Dec;42(12):5050–5052. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cruse JP, Lewin MR, Ferulano GP, Clark CG. Co-carcinogenic effects of dietary cholesterol in experimental colon cancer. Nature. 1978 Dec 21;276(5690):822–825. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cruse P, Lewin M, Clark CG. Dietary cholesterol is co-carcinogenic for human colon cancer. Lancet. 1979 Apr 7;1(8119):752–755. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- el-Sohemy A, Kendall CW, Rao AV, Archer MC, Bruce WR. Dietary cholesterol inhibits the development of aberrant crypt foci in the colon. Nutr Cancer. 1996;25(2):111–117. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gaard M, Tretli S, Løken EB. Dietary factors and risk of colon cancer: a prospective study of 50,535 young Norwegian men and women. Eur J Cancer Prev. 1996 Dec;5(6):445–454. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Giovannucci E, Goldin B. The role of fat, fatty acids, and total energy intake in the etiology of human colon cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Dec;66(6 Suppl):1564S–1571S. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Ascherio A, Willett WC. Intake of fat, meat, and fiber in relation to risk of colon cancer in men. Cancer Res. 1994 May 1;54(9):2390–2397. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA, van 't Veer P, Brants HA, Dorant E, Sturmans F, Hermus RJ. A prospective cohort study on the relation between meat consumption and the risk of colon cancer. Cancer Res. 1994 Feb 1;54(3):718–723. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hiramatsu Y, Takada H, Yamamura M, Hioki K, Saito K, Yamamoto M. Effect of dietary cholesterol on azoxymethane-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats. Carcinogenesis. 1983;4(5):553–558. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Howe GR, Aronson KJ, Benito E, Castelleto R, Cornée J, Duffy S, Gallagher RP, Iscovich JM, Deng-ao J, Kaaks R, et al. The relationship between dietary fat intake and risk of colorectal cancer: evidence from the combined analysis of 13 case-control studies. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 Mar;8(2):215–228. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Järvinen R, Seppänen R, Knekt P. Short-term and long-term reproducibility of dietary history interview data. Int J Epidemiol. 1993 Jun;22(3):520–527. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kato I, Akhmedkhanov A, Koenig K, Toniolo PG, Shore RE, Riboli E. Prospective study of diet and female colorectal cancer: the New York University Women's Health Study. Nutr Cancer. 1997;28(3):276–281. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Knekt P, Steineck G, Järvinen R, Hakulinen T, Aromaa A. Intake of fried meat and risk of cancer: a follow-up study in Finland. Int J Cancer. 1994 Dec 15;59(6):756–760. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Knekt P, Järvinen R, Dich J, Hakulinen T. Risk of colorectal and other gastro-intestinal cancers after exposure to nitrate, nitrite and N-nitroso compounds: a follow-up study. Int J Cancer. 1999 Mar 15;80(6):852–856. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Le Marchand L, Wilkens LR, Hankin JH, Kolonel LN, Lyu LC. A case-control study of diet and colorectal cancer in a multiethnic population in Hawaii (United States): lipids and foods of animal origin. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 Jul;8(4):637–648. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lipkin M, Reddy B, Newmark H, Lamprecht SA. Dietary factors in human colorectal cancer. Annu Rev Nutr. 1999;19:545–586. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Liu K, Stamler J, Moss D, Garside D, Persky V, Soltero I. Dietary cholesterol, fat, and fibre, and colon-cancer mortality. An analysis of international data. Lancet. 1979 Oct 13;2(8146):782–785. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nair PP, Turjman N, Kessie G, Calkins B, Goodman GT, Davidovitz H, Nimmagadda G. Diet, nutrition intake, and metabolism in populations at high and low risk for colon cancer. Dietary cholesterol, beta-sitosterol, and stigmasterol. Am J Clin Nutr. 1984 Oct;40(4 Suppl):927–930. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Phillips RL, Snowdon DA. Dietary relationships with fatal colorectal cancer among Seventh-Day Adventists. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1985 Feb;74(2):307–317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pietinen P, Malila N, Virtanen M, Hartman TJ, Tangrea JA, Albanes D, Virtamo J. Diet and risk of colorectal cancer in a cohort of Finnish men. Cancer Causes Control. 1999 Oct;10(5):387–396. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Potter JD. Nutrition and colorectal cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1996 Jan;7(1):127–146. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rao AV, Janezic SA, Friday D, Kendall CW. Dietary cholesterol enhances the induction and development of colonic preneoplastic lesions in C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ mice treated with azoxymethane. Cancer Lett. 1992 Apr 30;63(3):249–257. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rose DP, Boyar AP, Wynder EL. International comparisons of mortality rates for cancer of the breast, ovary, prostate, and colon, and per capita food consumption. Cancer. 1986 Dec 1;58(11):2363–2371. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Singh PN, Fraser GE. Dietary risk factors for colon cancer in a low-risk population. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Oct 15;148(8):761–774. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Slattery ML, Caan BJ, Potter JD, Berry TD, Coates A, Duncan D, Edwards SL. Dietary energy sources and colon cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol. 1997 Feb 1;145(3):199–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Steinmetz KA, Potter JD. Egg consumption and cancer of the colon and rectum. Eur J Cancer Prev. 1994 May;3(3):237–245. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Teppo L, Pukkala E, Lehtonen M. Data quality and quality control of a population-based cancer registry. Experience in Finland. Acta Oncol. 1994;33(4):365–369. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Speizer FE. Relation of meat, fat, and fiber intake to the risk of colon cancer in a prospective study among women. N Engl J Med. 1990 Dec 13;323(24):1664–1672. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]