title: Dietary intakes of vitamins A, C, and E and risk of melanoma in two cohorts of women.
abstract: Within the two Nurses' Health Study cohorts of US women, we examined whether higher intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E, retinol, or individual tocopherols or carotenoids are associated with a lower risk of melanoma. We confirmed 414 cases of invasive melanoma among over 162,000 Caucasian women aged 25-77 years during more than 1.6 million person-years of follow-up. Diet was measured every 4 years with a food frequency questionnaire and supplement use was reported every 2 years. Several measures of sun sensitivity were assessed and included in proportional hazards models. We found that vitamins A, C, E and their individual components were not associated with a lower risk of melanoma. Only retinol intake from foods plus supplements appeared protective within a subgroup of women who were otherwise at low risk based on nondietary factors (relative risk (RR)=0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-0.71 for >/=1,800 vs 400 microg day(-1), P for linear trend=0.01). Contrary to expectation, we observed higher risks of melanoma with greater intakes of vitamin C from food only (RR=1.43, 95% CI 1.01-2.00 for >/=175 vs <90 mg day(-1), P for linear trend=0.05) and a significant positive dose-response with frequency of orange juice consumption (P=0.008). Further research is needed to determine whether another component in foods such as orange juice may contribute to an increase in risk.
authors.affiliation: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. diane.feskanich@channing.harvard.edu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feskanich
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid