Vegetable and fruit consumption and cancer risk

Abstract

The relationship between cancer risk and frequency of consumption of green vegetables and fruit has been analyzed using data from an integrated series of case-control studies conducted in northern Italy between 1983 and 1990. The overall dataset included the following histologically confirmed cancers: oral cavity and pharynx, 119; oesophagus, 294; stomach, 564; colon, 673; rectum, 406; liver, 258; gall-bladder, 41; pancreas, 303; larynx, 149; breast, 2,860; endometrium, 567; ovary, 742; prostate, 107; bladder, 365; kidney, 147; thyroid, 120; Hodgkin's disease, 72; non-Hodgkin lymphomas, 173; myelomas, 117; and a total of 6,147 controls admitted to hospital for acute non-neoplastic conditions, unrelated to long-term dietary modifications. Multivariate relative risks (RR) for subsequent tertiles of vegetable and fruit consumption were derived after allowance for age, sex, area of residence, education and smoking. For vegetables, there was a consistent pattern of protection for all epithelial cancers, with RRs in the upper tertile ranging from 0.2 for oesophagus, liver and larynx to 0.7 for breast. All the trends in risk were in the same direction and significant for all carcinomas except gall-bladder. In contrast, no protection was afforded by high vegetable consumption against non-epithelial lymphoid neoplasms. With reference to fruit, strong inverse relationships were observed for cancers of the upper digestive and respiratory tract, with RRs in the upper tertile between 0.2 and 0.3 for oral cavity and pharynx, oesophagus and larynx relative to the lowest tertile. The lower the location of the tumour in the digestive tract, the weaker appeared to be the protection afforded. Significant inverse relationships were observed for liver, pancreas, prostate and urinary sites, but not for rectum, breast and female genital cancers or thyroid. No relationship emerged for lymphomas and myelomas. Even in the absence of a clear biological interpretation, the consistency and strength of the patterns observed indicate that, in this population, frequent green vegetable intake is associated with a substantial reduction of risk for several common epithelial cancers, and that fruit intake has a favourable effect, especially on upper digestive cancers and, probably, also on urinary tract neoplasms.

Intake of purple sweet potato beverage affects on serum hepatic biomarker levels of healthy adult men with borderline hepatitis

“…Epidemiological studies indicate an inverse correlation between the intake of polyphenols and the incidence of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer (Negri et al, 1991;Hertog et al, 1993;Keli et al, 1996). Fruits and vegetables rich in polyphenols have been expected to be important materials for the maintenance of health.…”

Fruits and Vegetables and Renal Cell Carcinoma: Findings From the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (Epic)

“…5 However, convincing evidence for a protective role of these dietary components in cancer development is lacking for most malignancies, including RCC. 6 A number of case-control studies have reported an inverse association between intake of either fruits or vegetables and RCC risk, [7][8][9][10][11] while some investigations failed to demonstrate any significant association. [12][13][14] More importantly, data from prospective studies remain sparse and largely non-conclusive.…”

Are retinol, vitamin C, vitamin E, folate and carotenoids intake associated with bladder cancer risk? Results from the Netherlands Cohort Study

“…With respect to bladder cancer, most epidemiological studies support a possible protective effect of vegetable (Bruemmer et al, 1996;D'Avanzo et al, 1995;Michaud et al, 1999;Mills et al, 1991;Negri et al, 1991) and fruit consumption (Bruemmer et al, 1996;Chyou et al, 1993;Negri et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1992), although some studies have reported no association for vegetable (Riboli et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1992) or fruit consumption (Michaud et al, 1999;Riboli et al, 1991). There are many candidate agents in fruits and vegetables that influence bladder cancer risk, including carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, and folate.…”