Intake of Vitamins D and A and Calcium and Risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: San Francisco Bay Area Population-Based Case-Control Study

Abstract

Several nutrients identified as potentially cancer protective have been inconsistently associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk. Dietary history data, including use of vitamin supplements, were collected using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered during in-person interviews with 4,133 participants (2052 cases, 2081 controls) in a San Francisco Bay Area population-based case-control. Data were used to determine the association of intake levels of vitamins D, A and calcium with risk of NHL and NHL subtypes. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed as estimates of relative risk using adjusted unconditional logistic regression. Increasing vitamin D intake from food and supplements was positively associated with NHL risk in men (5th quintile: OR=1.6, 95% CI= 1.0-2.4, Ptrend=0.07) and with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in women and men (5th quintile: OR=1.6, 95% CI=1.0-2.5, Ptrend=0.02), that was largely due to the effect in men (Ptrend=0.03). These results do not support a strong role for vitamin D intake with NHL risk with the exception of a potential association for DLBCL risk in men. Our results should be interpreted conservatively until further investigation in larger pooled studies can be conducted to better assess the role of vitamin D intake in lymphomagenesis.

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and lymphoma risk: results of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

“…Such an investigation, however, is made difficult by the relatively small sample sizes available for analysis. For instance, Polesel et al (41) showed an inverse association between dietary intake of vitamin D and the risk of FL (n = 31), in contradiction with our analysis, whereas Bahar et al documented an increased risk of DLBCL with higher dietary vitamin D in agreement with our data (42).…”

Adherence to the Western, Prudent, and Mediterranean dietary patterns and chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the MCC-Spain study

“…With the exception of a few studies that found positive associations with consumption of processed meat and poultry, 4 total carbohydrate 8 or fat (in women) 11 intake, and inverse associations with isoflavones consumption, 10 generally large prospective studies found no associations between a wide range of dietary factors and CLL. By contrast, case-control studies have yielded contradictory results for meat, 13 , 14 , 16 , 24 , 25 dairy products, 13 – 17 fish 15 , 18 or vegetables and fruit 14 , 16 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 25 intake.…”

The Dietary Inflammatory Index and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia in the MCC Spain Study

“…On the one hand, prospective studies looking for associations between CLL and nutrients or individual food items have found positive associations with poultry and processed meat [44], total fat [45] or carbohydrate [46] intake (in women), and inverse associations with the consumption of isoflavones [47]. On the other hand, case-control studies have found inconsistent evidence for the associations between CLL and dairy products, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Due to this, in recent decades, nutritional epidemiology has transitioned toward studying dietary patterns in order to assess their risk of disease [43].…”

“…On the other hand, exposure to UV radiation and atopic conditions were inversely associated with CLL [5]. Regarding diet, case-control studies have obtained controversial results for individual nutrients such as meat, dairy products and vegetables [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”