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Nutrient dietary patterns and the risk of colorectal cancer: a case–control study from Italy

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Abstract

Objective

The role of diet on colorectal cancer has been considered in terms of single foods and nutrients, but less frequently in terms of dietary patterns.

Methods

Data were derived from an Italian case–control study, including 1,225 subjects with cancer of the colon, 728 subjects with rectal cancer, and 4,154 hospital controls. We identified dietary patterns on a selected set of nutrients through principal component factor analysis. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for both cancers were estimated using unconditional multiple logistic regression.

Results

We identified 5 major dietary patterns. Direct associations were observed between the Starch-rich pattern and both cancer of the colon (OR = 1.68) and of the rectum (OR = 1.74). Inverse relationships were found between the Vitamins and fiber pattern and rectal cancer (OR = 0.61), between the Unsaturated fats (animal source) and the Unsaturated fats (vegetable source) and cancer of the colon (OR = 0.80 and OR = 0.79, respectively). No other significant association was found.

Conclusions

The Starch-rich pattern is potentially an unfavorable indicator of risk for both colon and rectal cancer, whereas the Vitamins and fiber pattern is associated with a reduced risk of rectal cancer and the Unsaturated fats patterns with a reduced risk of colon cancer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mrs I. Garimoldi for editorial assistance. This work was conducted with the contribution of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milan, Italy

    Francesca Bravi, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri & Carlo La Vecchia

  2. Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Dipartimento di Medicina del Lavoro “Clinica del Lavoro Luigi Devoto”, Sezione di Statistica Medica e Biometria “G.A. Maccacaro”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Francesca Bravi, Valeria Edefonti, Monica Ferraroni, Carlo La Vecchia & Adriano Decarli

  3. Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Unità di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Aviano (PN), Italy

    Renato Talamini

  4. Servizio di Epidemiologia, Istituto Tumori “Fondazione Pascale”, Naples, Italy

    Maurizio Montella

  5. Policlinico di Monza, Monza, Italy

    Attilio Giacosa

  6. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    Silvia Franceschi

  7. S.C. Statistica Medica, Biometria e Bioinformatica, Fondazione IRCSS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Adriano Decarli

Authors
  1. Francesca Bravi
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  2. Valeria Edefonti
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  3. Cristina Bosetti
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  4. Renato Talamini
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  5. Maurizio Montella
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  6. Attilio Giacosa
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  7. Silvia Franceschi
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  8. Eva Negri
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  9. Monica Ferraroni
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  10. Carlo La Vecchia
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  11. Adriano Decarli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Bravi.

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Bravi, F., Edefonti, V., Bosetti, C. et al. Nutrient dietary patterns and the risk of colorectal cancer: a case–control study from Italy. Cancer Causes Control 21, 1911–1918 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9619-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9619-1

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