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An investigation of the relationship of selected dietary factors and colon cancer

University of British Columbia

Cancer of the colon is a major cause of death in Canada and in British Columbia. It is a disease of older persons which has a considerable latency period for development. To a large extent, it may be preventable. The majority of past research has concentrated on current food habits in an attempt to find a single dietary cause of this disease. This case control study was designed to clarify the relationship over time of selected dietary factors in the etiology of colon cancer, total of 111 cases and 92 controls of similar age and sex were given an extensive dietary interview which probed food consumption and related factors in each of three major life stages: current, middle and teen years. Approximately fifty percent of the current incident case population were ineligible to interview; of these thirty per cent were deceased or too ill. Nevertheless, the case sample was considered to be representative of the population as the distributions of ages and cancer sites were similar to the case population. Controls were friends of cases or physician identified healthy individuals. The biodemographic variables of significance were urban residence more than seventy five per cent of lifespan, managerial/professional occupation, a previous history of intestinal polyps, and a history of having been overweight. The general food habits found related to colon cancer were the current practice of skipping breakfast and the handling of leftover vegetables. None of the eight major food groups representing current consumption of vitamin A rich vegetables, vitamin C rich foods, cruciferous vegetables, fats, meat, vegetable source protein, fiber rich foods and beef fat were related to colon cancer. These same food scores when assessed for food consumption ten to fifteen years pre-diagnosis showed a strong protective effect for the increased consumption of vitamin C rich foods, cruciferous vegetables and vegetable source proteins. An increased consumption of fibrous vegetables showed a similar protective effect; cheese consumption enhanced risk. Data from the teen years reinforced the protective role of vitamin C rich foods. Meat and fat consumption were not found to be related to colon cancer. It is speculated that these dietary factors could be involved in an internal ecosystem influencing the concentration of fecal bile acids which are promoters of carcinogenesis.

Text

2010-06-13

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25641

Human Nutrition

University of British Columbia

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