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Dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer: A pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies

  • Yikyung Park
  • , David J. Hunter
  • , Donna Spiegelman
  • , Leif Bergkvist
  • , Franco Berrino
  • , Piet A. Van Den Brandt
  • , Julie E. Buring
  • , Graham A. Colditz
  • , Jo L. Freudenheim
  • , Charles S. Fuchs
  • , Edward Giovannucci
  • , R. Alexandra Goldbohm
  • , Saxon Graham
  • , Lisa Harnack
  • , Anne M. Hartman
  • , David R. Jacobs
  • , Ikuko Kato
  • , Vittorio Krogh
  • , Michael F. Leitzmann
  • , Marjorie L. McCullough
  • Anthony B. Miller, Pirjo Pietinen, Thomas E. Rohan, Arthur Schatzkin, Walter C. Willett, Alicja Wolk, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Shumin M. Zhang, Stephanie A. Smith-Warner
  • Harvard University
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  • Västerås Central Hospital
  • IRCCS Fondazione Istituto Nazionale per lo studio e la cura dei tumori - Milano
  • Maastricht University
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
  • SUNY Buffalo
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • Wayne State University
  • American Cancer Society
  • University of Toronto
  • National Institute for Health and Welfare
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Karolinska Institutet
  • New York University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

427 Scopus citations

Abstract

Context: Inconsistent findings from observational studies have continued the controversy over the effects of dietary fiber on colorectal cancer. Objective: To evaluate the association between dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants: From 13 prospective cohort studies included in the Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer, 725 628 men and women were followed up for 6 to 20 years across studies. Study- and sex-specific relative risks (RRs) were estimated with the Cox proportional hazards model and were subsequently pooled using a random-effects model. Main Outcome Measure: Incident colorectal cancer. Results: During 6 to 20 years of follow-up across studies, 8081 colorectal cancer cases were identified. For comparison of the highest vs lowest study- and sex-specific quintile of dietary fiber intake, a significant inverse association was found in the age-adjusted model (pooled RR=0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77-0.92). However, the association was attenuated and no longer statistically significant after adjusting for other risk factors (pooled multivariate RR=0.94; 95% CI, 0.86-1.03). In categorical analyses compared with dietary fiber intake of 10 to <15 g/d, the pooled multivariate RR was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.05-1.31) for less than 10 g/d (11% of the overall study population); and RR, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.85-1.17) for 30 or more g/d. Fiber intake from cereals, fruits, and vegetables was not associated with risk of colorectal cancer. The pooled multivariate RRs comparing the highest vs lowest study- and sex-specific quintile of dietary fiber intake were 1.00 (95% CI, 0.90-1.11) for colon cancer and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72-1.01) for rectal cancer (P for common effects by tumor site=.07). Conclusions: In this large pooled analysis, dietary fiber intake was inversely associated with risk of colorectal cancer in age-adjusted analyses. However, after accounting for other dietary risk factors, high dietary fiber intake was not associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2849-2857
Number of pages9
JournalJAMA
Volume294
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 14 2005

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