Dietary Acrylamide and the Risk of Endometrial Cancer: An Italian Case-Control

Abstract

The role of dietary acrylamide on the risk of hormone-related, and specifically endometrial, cancers is debated. Epidemiological data are scanty. Thus, we examined the relation between acrylamide intake and endometrial cancer risk in a case-control study conducted between 1992 and 2006 in 3 Italian areas. Cases were 454 women with incident, histologically confirmed endometrial cancer. Controls were 908 age-matched women admitted to the same network of hospitals of cases for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. We calculated multivariate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression models. The OR of endometrial cancer for increasing quintiles of dietary acrylamide, as compared to the lowest one, were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.67-1.54), 1.20 (95% CI: 0.80-1.80), 1.00 (95% CI: 0.65-1.54) and 1.17 (95% CI: 0.73-1.85). The OR for an increase of 10 μg/day of dietary acrylamide was 1.00 (95% CI: 0.91-1.10). In subgroup analyses, the ORs for high vs. low acrylamide intake were 1.28 (95% CI: 0.73-2.25) in never smokers and 1.14 (95% CI: 0.45-2.90) in ever smokers. Our data do not support an association between dietary acrylamide intake and endometrial cancer.

Dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of endometrial or ovarian cancers in Japanese women

“…37 In contrast to these cohorts, the range of intake was narrower in the studies that showed no association. [38][39][40][41] In the Japanese participants, intake range of quartiles, as well as the average intake, was considerably smaller than in the other studies that showed a significant association.…”

“…Likewise, the EPIC cohort, which included 10 European countries, also had a wide intake range: the lowest was 8.8 μg/day in Italy and the highest was 35.5 μg/day in Denmark . In contrast to these cohorts, the range of intake was narrower in the studies that showed no association . In the Japanese participants, intake range of quartiles, as well as the average intake, was considerably smaller than in the other studies that showed a significant association.…”

“…Moreover, the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer (NLCS), the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) noted increased HR for endometrial and ovarian cancers . In contrast, the Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC) and the Italian Case‐Control Studies found null associations for endometrial and ovarian cancers . Differences in the dietary acrylamide intake in these cohorts may be one of the reasons for the lack of association.…”

“…Studies found null associations for endometrial and ovarian cancers. [38][39][40][41] Differences in the dietary acrylamide intake in these cohorts may be one of the reasons for the lack of association. The average acrylamide intakes in the lowest and highest quintiles were 9.5 and 36.8 μg/day in the NLCS, and 9 and 26 μg/day in the NHS, respectively.…”

Dietary Intake of Acrylamide and Risk of Breast, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancers: A Systematic Review and Dose–Response Meta-analysis

“…For the exposure categories reported in each study, we extracted the mean or median depending on which was available. If unavailable, we inputted in the model the midpoint of each category or, when the extreme boundaries for the highest and the lowest exposure category were not reported, we entered a value 20% higher or lower than the closest cutoff (28,29). For this analysis, we used restricted cubic splines with three knots at fixed percentiles (10th, 50th, and 90th) of exposure distribution using generalized least-squares regression model (24).…”