Carrot Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Prospective Cohort Study of 57,053 Danes

Abstract

Carrots are consumed worldwide. Several meta-analysis studies on carrot consumption have indicated that carrots play a central role as a protecting vegetable against development of different types of cancers. A cancer-preventive role of carrots is plausible because they are the main dietary source of the bioactive polyacetylenic oxylipins falcarinol (FaOH) and falcarindiol (FaDOH), which have shown anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory activity in numerous in vitro studies. In addition, purified FaOH and FaDOH have, in recent studies in colorectal cancer (CRC)-primed rats, demonstrated an anti-neoplastic effect in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanisms of action for this effect appears to be due to inhibition of pro-inflammatory and transcription factor biomarkers for inflammation and cancer. However, studies of the CRC-preventive effect of carrots in a large cohort are still missing. We therefore examined the risk of being diagnosed with CRC as predicted by intake of carrots in a Danish population of 57,053 individuals with a long follow-up. Self-reported intake of raw carrots at a baseline of 2–4 carrots or more each week (>32 g/day) was associated with a 17% decrease in risk of CRC with a mean follow-up of >18 years, compared to individuals with no intake of raw carrots even after extensive model adjustments (HR 0.83 CI 95% 0.71; 0.98). An intake below 2–4 carrots each week (<32 g/day) was not significantly associated with reduced risk of CRC (HR 0.93 CI 95% 0.82; 1.06). The results of this prospective cohort study clearly support the results from studies in cancer-primed rats for CRC and hence a CRC-preventive effect of carrots.

Bioactive C17 and C18 Acetylenic Oxylipins from Terrestrial Plants as Potential Lead Compounds for Anticancer Drug Development

“…The dose for an optimal antineoplastic effect was found to be from 7 to 35 µg of falcarinol and falcarindiol/g feed in the rat model of CRC. However, effects are observed at even lower concentrations (Table 3) and it appears that a cancer-preventive dose of polyacetylenes in humans, based on this preclinical trial, can be achieved with a daily intake above 30 g raw carrots [52,130], which is in accordance with the results of the cohort study mentioned in Section 2.3.1. Table 3.…”

“…The latter has recently been confirmed in a prospective cohort study, examining the risk of being diagnosed with CRC, as predicted by intake of carrots in a Danish population of 57,053 individuals with a long follow-up [130]. Self-reported intake of raw carrots at a baseline of 2-4 carrots or more each week (> 32 g/day) was associated with a 17% decrease in risk of CRC with a mean follow-up of > 18 years, compared to individuals with no intake of raw carrots [130]. The results of this prospective cohort study clearly support the results of the antineoplastic effects observed for the major polyacetylenic constituents in carrots in a rat model of CRC, as discussed in Section 4.1.…”

“…First, they are consumed worldwide, in particular in North America and in European countries, and second, several meta-analysis studies on carrot consumption have indicated that carrots play a central role as a protecting vegetable, against development of different types of cancers [126][127][128][129]. The latter has recently been confirmed in a prospective cohort study, examining the risk of being diagnosed with CRC, as predicted by intake of carrots in a Danish population of 57,053 individuals with a long follow-up [130]. Self-reported intake of raw carrots at a baseline of 2-4 carrots or more each week (> 32 g/day) was associated with a 17% decrease in risk of CRC with a mean follow-up of > 18 years, compared to individuals with no intake of raw carrots [130].…”

Association of Dietary Carrot Intake With Bladder Cancer Risk in a Prospective Cohort of 99,650 Individuals With 12.5 Years of Follow-Up

“…Carrot consumption has been inversely associated with various health outcomes, including colorectal cancer ( 30 ), lung cancer ( 31 ), prostate cancer ( 32 ), breast cancer ( 33 ), and stroke mortality ( 34 ). However, in our study, we failed to find a significant association between carrot intake and bladder cancer risk.…”

Falcarindiol Purified From Carrots Leads to Elevated Levels of Lipid Droplets and Upregulation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Gene Expression in Cellular Models

“…A recent prospective cohort study, examining the risk of being diagnosed with CRC as predicted by intake of carrots in a Danish population of 57,053 individuals with a long follow-up confirmed the cancer preventive effect of this vegetable. This preventive effect of carrot intake on CRC development is possibly due to the content of FaOH and FaDOH ( Deding et al, 2020 ).…”