Abstract
The authors investigated the association of adherence to Mediterranean diet with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition study. Adherence to Mediterranean diet was expressed through two 10-unit scales, the Modified Mediterranean diet score (MMDS) and the Centre-Specific MMDS (CSMMDS). Both scales share the same dietary components but differ in the cut-off values that were used for these components in the construction of the scales. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for the associations of these scales with CRC incidence were estimated. After 5,296,617 person-years of follow-up, 4,355 incident CRC cases were identified. A decreased risk of CRC, of 8 and 11 % was estimated when comparing the highest (scores 6–9) with the lowest (scores 0–3) adherence to CSMMDS and MMDS respectively. For MMDS the HR was 0.89 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.80, 0.99). A 2-unit increment in either Mediterranean scale was associated with a borderline statistically significant 3 to 4 % reduction in CRC risk (HR for MMDS: 0.96; 95 % CI: 0.92, 1.00). These associations were somewhat more evident, among women, were mainly manifested for colon cancer risk and their magnitude was not altered when alcohol was excluded from MMDS. These findings suggest that following a Mediterranean diet may have a modest beneficial effect on CRC risk.
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Abbreviations
- CRC:
-
ColoRectal Cancer
- MD:
-
Mediterranean Diet
- MMDS:
-
Modified Mediterranean Diet Score
- HR:
-
Hazard Ratio
- CI:
-
Confidence Intervals
- EPIC:
-
European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition
- PA:
-
Physical Activity
- BMI:
-
Body Mass Index
- CSMMDS:
-
Centre Specific Modified Mediterranean Diet Score
- ICD:
-
International Classification of Diseases
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Word Cancer Research Fund (grants number 2003/18 and 2007/13). The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by: Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (France); Deutsche Krebshilfe, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); Hellenic Health Foundation and Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Greece); Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC), National Research Council and AIRE-ONLUS Ragusa, AVIS Ragusa, Sicilian Government (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); ERC-2009-AdG 232997 and Nordforsk and Nordic Center of Excellence programme on Food, Nutrition and Health (Norway); Health Research Fund (FIS), Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia (No 6236) and Navarra and ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Scientific Council and Regional Government of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council, Stroke Association, British Heart Foundation, Department of Health, Food Standards Agency and Welcome Trust (United Kingdom).
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Bamia, C., Lagiou, P., Buckland, G. et al. Mediterranean diet and colorectal cancer risk: results from a European cohort. Eur J Epidemiol 28, 317–328 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-013-9795-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-013-9795-x