Dietary acid load and risk of head and neck and oral cavity cancers: An epidemiologic study

Abstract

Aim Metabolic acidosis subsequent to a high dietary acid load (DAL) leads to inflammation and cell transformation, which are common features of cancer development. Because the epidemiologic evidence associating DAL and cancer risk is still limited, we sought to explore the potential role of DAL as a risk factor for head and neck and oral cavity tumors. Methods A case–control study was performed on 1126 men (563 cases and 563 age frequency and residence matched controls), drawn from the major public hospitals in Montevideo, Uruguay. Participants were interviewed through a multi‐topic questionnaire, including a food frequency questionnaire. Food‐derived nutrients were calculated from available databases. DAL was calculated based on validated measures including potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) scores. Odds ratios (OR) were estimated by logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Results We found significant and direct associations between dietary acid load and risk of head and neck and oral cavity cancers (OR = 2.10 and OR = 1.95 for highest PRAL and NEAP, respectively). In addition, stratified analyses by subsites displayed the highest estimates for pharyngeal cancer (OR = 2.40 and OR = 2.28 for highest PRAL and NEAP, respectively). No association was found for oral cavity cancers. Conclusions An acidogenic diet may increase the risk of head and neck cancers. Our findings align well with our previous studies focused on other anatomic sites. Studies conducted on food groups and nutritional patterns align with our results. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

The association of diet-dependent acid load with colorectal cancer risk: a case–control study in Korea

“…Dietary acid load was also determined to have an association with an elevated pancreatic cancer risk in another cohort of 95 708 individuals (27) . Similarities were found for several types of cancers in previous case–control studies, such as bladder, gastric, oral, and oesophageal cancers and glioma (24–26,28,29) . Although acid–base disequilibrium has been proposed as a factor driving cancer development and progression (7) , epidemiological evidence is limited for CRC, making it difficult to emphasise the role of acidogenic diets in colorectal carcinogenesis.…”

“…To date, attention has been drawn to the link between acid-base abnormalities and cancer, especially a long-term imbalance (17) . However, the majority of previous studies seem to be restricted to breast cancer (20)(21)(22)(23) , and some studies focus on lung, bladder, gastric, oral, pancreatic, and oesophageal cancers and glioma (15,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29) . Evidence of the association of diet-induced acid-base imbalance with CRC is limited.…”

Dietary acid load and esophageal cancer risk: A case‐control study

“…30 Two recently published independent meta-analyses revealed positive associations of a high DAL and a higher risk of cancer incidence. 30,31 A high DAL has been associated with the following malignancies in large epidemiological studies on cancer: prostate, 32 bladder, 33 breast, 34,35 lung, 36 colorectum, 37 head and neck, 38 and pancreatic cancer. 39 The reservation must be made that investigations in this particular field are still scarce, and whether a high DAL may increase the risk for EC has not yet been examined in particular.…”

Dietary Acid Load in Gluten-Free Diets: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study

“…Comparably low PRAL scores (as shown by Nikniaz et al [ 13 ]) are usually only observed in plant-based cohorts (e.g., in individuals consuming strict vegetarian and vegan diets) [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. While a high acidogenic diet has been associated with numerous health repercussions [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], we doubt that this may be buffered with a GFD.…”