Dietary carotenoids and risk of colorectal cancer in a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies

Satu Männistö, Shiaw Shyuan Yaun, David J. Hunter, Donna Spiegelman, Hans Olov Adami, Demetrius Albanes, Piet A. Van Den Brandt, Julie E. Buring, James R. Cerhan, Graham A. Colditz, Jo L. Freudenheim, Charles S. Fuchs, Edward Giovannucci, R. Alexandra Goldbohm, Lisa Harnack, Michael Leitzmann, Marjorie L. McCullough, Anthony B. Miller, Thomas E. Rohan, Arthur SchatzkinJarmo Virtamo, Walter C. Willett, Alicja Wolk, Shumin M. Zhang, Stephanie A. Smith-Warner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)246-255
Number of pages10
JournalAmerican Journal of Epidemiology
Volume165
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2007

Keywords

  • Carotenoids
  • Cohort studies
  • Colonic neoplasms
  • Colorectal neoplasms
  • Diet
  • Meta-analysis
  • Rectal neoplasms

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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