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A Pooled Analysis of Case–Control Studies of Thyroid Cancer. VI. Fish and Shellfish Consumption

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Abstract

Objective: To better understand the role of fish and shellfish on thyroid cancer risk, we systematically re-analyzed the original data from 13 case–control studies conducted in the US, Japan, China, and Europe. Methods: A total of 2497 cases (2023 women, 474 men) and 4337 controls (3268 women, 1069 men) were considered. Odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated for each study by logistic regression models, conditioned on age and sex, and adjusted for history of goiter, thyroid nodules or adenomas, and radiation. Combined ORs were computed as the weighted average of the estimates from each study. Results: The ORs for the highest level of total fish consumption (three or more times per week) as compared to the lowest one (less than once per week) was above unity in Hawaii, Connecticut, Japan, Norway, Tromsø, and Vaud. Conversely, the ORs for the studies in Los Angeles, Shanghai, southeastern Sweden, Uppsala, northern Sweden, northern Italy, and Athens were below one. The pattern of risk for salt water fish and shellfish was not substantially different from that of total fish. Fish was not associated with thyroid cancer risk in all studies combined (OR=0.99, 95% CI 0.85–1.2 for moderate, and OR=0.88, 95% CI 0.71–1.1 for high total fish consumption), but there was a suggestion of a protective effect in endemic goiter areas (OR=0.65, 95% CI 0.48–0.88). Conclusion: This combined analysis indicates that relatively elevated fish consumption does not appreciably increase thyroid cancer risk, and may have a favorable influence in areas where iodine deficiency is, or was, common.

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Author notes

  1. Maria Rosaria Galanti

    Present address: Laboratory of General Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, Via Eritrea, 62-20157, Milan, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of General Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, Via Eritrea, 62-20157, Milan, Italy

    Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri & Elaine Ron

  2. Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813, USA

    Laurence Kolonel

  3. Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, 33081, Aviano, PN, Italy

    Silvia Franceschi & Luigino Dal Maso

  4. Department of Cancer Epidemiology, University Hospital, SE-57185 Uppsala, Sweden

    Maria Rosaria Galanti

  5. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza South 6120 Executive Boulevárd, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA

    Steven D. Mark & Charles Land

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033-0800, USA

    Susan Preston-Martin

  7. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109-1024, USA

    Anne McTiernan

  8. Shanghai Cancer Institute, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

    Fan Jin

  9. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Health and Environment, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE-581 85 Linköping, Sweden

    Gun Wingren

  10. Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, 732, Japan

    Charles Land & Arne Hallquist

  11. Cancer Registry of Norway, Montebello, NO-3010, Oslo, Norway

    Eystein Glattre

  12. Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromso, NO-9037, Tromso, Norway

    Eiliv Lund

  13. Registre Vaudois des Tumeurs, Institut Universitaire de Mèdecine Sociale et Prèventive, CH-1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Fabio Levi

  14. Institute of Preventive Medicine, GR-145 61, Kifissia, Greece

    Dimitrios Linos

  15. Laboratory of General Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, Via Eritrea, 62-20157, Milan, Italy

    Carlo La Vecchia

  16. Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Carlo La Vecchia

Authors
  1. Cristina Bosetti
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  2. Laurence Kolonel
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  3. Eva Negri
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  4. Elaine Ron
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  5. Silvia Franceschi
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  6. Luigino Dal Maso
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  7. Maria Rosaria Galanti
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  8. Steven D. Mark
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  9. Susan Preston-Martin
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  10. Anne McTiernan
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  11. Charles Land
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  12. Fan Jin
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  13. Gun Wingren
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  14. Arne Hallquist
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  15. Eystein Glattre
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  16. Eiliv Lund
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  17. Fabio Levi
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  18. Dimitrios Linos
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  19. Carlo La Vecchia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eva Negri.

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Bosetti, C., Kolonel, L., Negri, E. et al. A Pooled Analysis of Case–Control Studies of Thyroid Cancer. VI. Fish and Shellfish Consumption. Cancer Causes Control 12, 375–382 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011267123398

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011267123398

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