Abstract
Objective
Based on evidence that phytoestrogens may protect against prostate cancer, we evaluated the associations between serum enterolactone concentration or dietary phytoestrogen intake and risk of prostate cancer.
Methods
In our Swedish population-based case-control study, questionnaire-data were available for 1,499 prostate cancer cases and 1,130 controls, with serum enterolactone levels in a sub-group of 209 cases and 214 controls. Unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate multivariate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations with risk of prostate cancer.
Results
High intake of food items rich in phytoestrogens was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The OR comparing the highest to the lowest quartile of intake was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.57–0.95; p-value for trend: 0.01). In contrast, we found no association between dietary intake of total or individual lignans or isoflavonoids and risk of prostate cancer. Intermediate serum levels of enterolactone were associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The ORs comparing increasing quartiles of serum enterolactone concentration to the lowest quartile were, respectively, 0.28 (95% CI: 0.15–0.55), 0.63 (95% CI: 0.35–1.14) and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.41–1.32).
Conclusions
Our results support the hypothesis that certain foods high in phytoestrogens are associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer.
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Abbreviations
- BMI:
-
body mass index
- CI:
-
confidence interval
- MAT:
-
matairesinol
- OR:
-
odds ratio
- PSA:
-
prostate-specific antigen
- SECO:
-
secoisolariciresinol
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank all study participants in the CAPS study; Ulrika Lund for skillfully coordinating the study center at Karolinska Institute; Lotta Spångberg, Berit Andersson and Britt Eriksson for well done interviews; all urologists including their patients in the CAPS study; and all urologists providing clinical data to the national registry of prostate cancer. We also thank Karin Andersson, Susan Lindh, Gabriella Thorén-Berglund and Margareta Åswärd at the Regional Cancer Registries in Umeå, Uppsala, Stockholm-Gotland and Linköping, respectively. In addition, we thank Sören Holmgren and the personnel at the Medical Biobank in Umeå for skillfully handling the blood samples.
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Grant support: The Swedish Cancer Society (Grant #00 0437) and Örebro County Council Research Foundation.
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Hedelin, M., Klint, Å., Chang, E.T. et al. Dietary Phytoestrogen, Serum Enterolactone and Risk of Prostate Cancer: The Cancer Prostate Sweden Study (Sweden). Cancer Causes Control 17, 169–180 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0342-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0342-2