Food groups and risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus: a case–control study in Uruguay

Abstract

a case -control study on squamous cell cancer of the oesophagus was conducted in Montevideo, Uruguay. The main objective of the study was to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) associated with main food groups. For this purpose, 166 patients afflicted with squamous cell oesophageal cancer and 664 hospitalised controls were frequency matched on age and sex. Both series of patients were administered with a structured questionnaire. Aside from queries related with tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and maté drinking, patients were interviewed with a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) on 64 items, representative of the usual Uruguayan diet. Red meat, salted meat and boiled meat displayed strong direct associations (OR for red meat 2.4, 95% CI 1.4 -4.2). On the other hand, fish and total white meat showed moderate protective effect (OR for total white meat 0.5, 95% CI 0.3 -0.9). Total fruit intake displayed a strong inverse association (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.4), whereas total vegetable consumption presented a weak inverse association (OR for total vegetable intake 0.7, 95% CI 0.4 -1.2). These results suggest that vegetables, mainly cooked vegetables, are rich in thermolabile protective substances. On the other hand, boiled (stewed) meat, which is ingested at high temperature could be, like maté, a risk factor for squamous cell cancer of the oesophagus.

Adverse Effects of Preserved Vegetables on Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Esophagus and Precancer Lesions in a High Risk Area

“…De Stefani E reported that consuming salted meat, another kind of processed foods, was associated with higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus, no matter in one-site or multi-site case control studies (De Stefani et al, 1999;De Stefani et al, 2003;De Stefani et al, 2009). In Netherland, one cohort study also presented the similar association between processed meat and ESCC, with the HR being 3.47 (Keszei et al, 2012).…”

The role of vegetable and fruit consumption in the aetiology of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus: A case‐control study in Uruguay

“…In fact, vegetables were included in their final model, whereas fruits were not. Other reports displayed lower risks for fruits compared to vegetables 6,7,9,10,[15][16][17][18][19]23,25,33,41,43,45 (15/38, 39.5%). Thus, the following question arises: is the overall body of evidence now sufficient to Adjusted for age, sex, residence, urban/rural status, birthplace, education, smoking status, years since quit, number of cigarettes smoked per day, alcohol drinking, matè temperature, stewed meat and total energy intake.…”

“…5 Five Uruguayan studies conducted by our group have examined the associations between foods and nutrients and oesophageal cancer risk. [6][7][8][9][10] According to these studies salted meat is a risk factor, whereas high intake of fresh fruits and vegetables was associated with strong reductions in risk. Studies conducted in other populations also reported a strong protective effect of plant foods.…”

“…12,15,24,25 Although our previous studies reported a stronger reduction in risk for high fruit consumption compared to high vegetable intake, the statistical power of these analyses was low and comparisons were conducted between categorical variables. 6,7,9,10 This is an important drawback since the absolute amount of consumption of vegetables and fruits could be different. 46 To perform a direct comparison it is necessary to model these foods as continuous terms adding a fixed amount of intake.…”

Avaliação da genotoxicidade da Ilex paraguariensis (erva mate) pelo teste do micronúcleo

“…V á r i o s e s t u d o s e n c o n t r a r a m u m a associação entre a temperatura da infusão da erva mate e os riscos de câncer oral, esôfago e/ou laringe (Barros et al, 2000;De Stefani et al, 2002). Assim, a causa do chá mate provocar câncer seria devida à lesão térmica pelo contato direto da mucosa com a bebida quente.…”