Nut Consumption and Lung Cancer Risk: Results from Two Large Observational Studies

Abstract

Background Epidemiological evidence on the association between nut consumption and lung cancer risk is limited. Methods We investigated this relationship in the Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) study, a population-based case-control study, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Diet and Health Study, a prospective cohort. We identified 2098 lung cases for EAGLE and 18,533 incident cases in AARP. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire for both studies. Multivariable odds ratios (ORs) and hazards ratio (HRs) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression for EAGLE and AARP, respectively. Results Higher frequency of intake of nut consumption was inversely associated with overall lung cancer risk (highest-versus-lowest quintile, OREAGLE=0.74, 95% CI=0.57–0.95; HRAARP=0.86, 95% CI=0.81–0.91), regardless of smoking status. Results from the prospective cohort showed similar associations across histological subtypes, and a more pronounced benefits from nut consumption for those who smoked 1–20 cigarettes/day (OREAGLE=0.61, 95% CI=0.39–0.95; HRAARP=0.83, 95% CI=0.74–0.94). Conclusions Nut consumption was inversely associated with lung cancer in two large population-based studies, and associations were independent of cigarette smoking and other known risk factors. Impact To our knowledge, this is the first study that examined the association between nut consumption and lung cancer risk by histologic subtypes and smoking intensity.

Nut and peanut butter consumption and the risk of lung cancer and its subtypes: A prospective cohort study

“…In an accompanying Italian case-control study, nut consumption frequency was also significantly associated with a decreased lung cancer risk [12]. A Hawaiian case-control study found no association between peanut and peanut butter intake and lung cancer risk [14], and another Italian case-control study also observed no effect of nut consumption frequency on lung cancer risk [13].…”

“…A third cohort study, the NIH-AARP, with 18,533 incident lung cancer cases found significant inverse associations between nut consumption frequency and risk of adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and small cell carcinoma in both sexes combined, after controlling for smoking characteristics [12]. They also observed that lighter smokers may benefit most from higher nut consumption, and sensitivity analyses suggested that nut intake might be most protective against small cell carcinoma.…”

“…In two cohort studies, nut consumption was not significantly associated with lung cancer risk [10,11]. A third cohort study, the NIH-AARP, observed inverse relations between nut consumption frequency and lung cancer risk across three major histologic subtypes [12]. In an accompanying Italian case-control study, nut consumption frequency was also significantly associated with a decreased lung cancer risk [12].…”

“…A third cohort study, the NIH-AARP, observed inverse relations between nut consumption frequency and lung cancer risk across three major histologic subtypes [12]. In an accompanying Italian case-control study, nut consumption frequency was also significantly associated with a decreased lung cancer risk [12]. Two other case-control studies found no effects of nut consumption frequency, peanut consumption, or peanut butter consumption on lung cancer risk [13,14].…”

“…Several studies have demonstrated inverse associations of nut intake with cancer-related mortality [6][7][8][9]. Nevertheless, evidence regarding the relation between nut consumption and lung cancer risk is limited to three cohort [10][11][12] and three case-control studies [12][13][14], and is inconclusive.…”