title: Vitamin supplement use and the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among women and men.
abstract: The authors examined use of individual supplements of vitamins A, C, and E only and multivitamins in relation to risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in prospective cohorts of 88,410 women in the Nurses' Health Study (1980-1996), with 261 incident cases during 16 years of follow-up, and of 47,336 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-1996), with 111 incident cases during 10 years of follow-up. Multivitamin use was associated with a higher risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among women but not among men; the multivariate relative risks for long-term duration (10 or more years) were 1.48 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 2.16) for women and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.58) for men. The pooled multivariate relative risk from the two cohorts was 1.18 (95% CI: 0.70, 2.02). Use of individual supplements of vitamins A, C, and E only was not associated with risk among men. An increased risk associated with the use of individual supplements of vitamins A, C, and E only among women appeared to be secondary to the use of multivitamins by the same persons. Because an elevated risk among multivitamin users was not observed consistently in the two cohorts and the pooled data were not significant, the elevated risk among women may be the result of chance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Shumin.Zhang@channing.harvard.edu
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rimm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ascherio
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Speizer
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid