Flavonoid and lignan intake and pancreatic cancer risk in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition cohort

Abstract

Despite the potential cancer preventive effects of flavonoids and lignans, their ability to reduce pancreatic cancer risk has not been demonstrated in epidemiological studies. Our aim was to examine the association between dietary intakes of flavonoids and lignans and pancreatic cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. A total of 865 exocrine pancreatic cancer cases occurred after 11.3 years of follow‐up of 477,309 cohort members. Dietary flavonoid and lignan intake was estimated through validated dietary questionnaires and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Phenol Explorer databases. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using age, sex and center‐stratified Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for energy intake, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol and diabetes status. Our results showed that neither overall dietary intake of flavonoids nor of lignans were associated with pancreatic cancer risk (multivariable‐adjusted HR for a doubling of intake = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.95–1.11 and 1.02; 95% CI: 0.89–1.17, respectively). Statistically significant associations were also not observed by flavonoid subclasses. An inverse association between intake of flavanones and pancreatic cancer risk was apparent, without reaching statistical significance, in microscopically confirmed cases (HR for a doubling of intake = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.91–1.00). In conclusion, we did not observe an association between intake of flavonoids, flavonoid subclasses or lignans and pancreatic cancer risk in the EPIC cohort.

Dietary Flavonoids as Cancer Chemopreventive Agents: An Updated Review of Human Studies

“…Regarding colorectal cancer (Table 11), it has been demonstrated that flavonoids are able to inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells in vitro [104]. However, in human-based studies, the results are different.…”

“…However, in human-based studies, the results are different. In a prospective study that examined daily flavonoid intake and its relationship with colorectal cancer, the data showed there was no association between the risk of colorectal cancer and flavonoid intake [104]. Important results were obtained in a study performed by Xu M. et al (2016).…”

Nutrients and the Pancreas: An Epigenetic Perspective

“…The inverse relationship is attributed to the biological mechanisms related to cell signaling and cell regulation, and is likely due to antioxidant, antimutigentic, and antiproliferative properties associated with nutrients found in fruits in vegetables [43]. Other studies have associated the protective effect with relationship to diallyl disulfide and sulforaphone (present in cruciferous and Allium vegetables) to have the ability to inhibit histone deacetylase (HDACs) enzymes [44,45].…”

“…This is consistent with the findings in Jiao et al [50] stating that high cooking temperatures is related to increased amounts of N -(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) advanced glycation end products (CML AGEs). CML AGEs possibly contribute to insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation [42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53]. Moreover, CML AGEs are speculated to contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer by changing the tissue stroma environment [50].…”

Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration: The Promising Protective Role of the Citrus Flavanone Hesperetin

“…Among flavonoids drawing growing scientific attention, there are the flavanones hesperidin (hesperetin-7-O-rutinoside) and its aglycone hesperetin, which are present in high concentrations in citrus fruit and juices, although they can be found in tomatoes and certain aromatic plants, such as mint [ 6 ]. Considering the high intake of citrus fruits and juices worldwide, flavanones significantly contribute to the dietary intake of flavonoids [ 3 , 4 , 7 ]. Hesperidin represents 90% of total flavanones in oranges and orange juices.…”