title: Intake of the major carotenoids and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in a pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies.
abstract: Carotenoids, found in fruits and vegetables, have the potential to protect against cancer because of their properties, including their functions as precursors to vitamin A and as antioxidants. We examined the associations between intakes of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin and lycopene and the risk of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. The primary data from 10 prospective cohort studies in North America and Europe were analyzed and then pooled. Carotenoid intakes were estimated from a validated food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline in each study. Study-specific relative risks (RR) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model and then combined using a random-effects model. Among 521,911 women, 2,012 cases of ovarian cancer occurred during a follow-up of 7-22 years across studies. The major carotenoids were not significantly associated with the risk of ovarian cancer. The pooled multivariate RRs (95% confidence intervals) were 1.00 (0.95-1.05) for a 600 microg/day increase in alpha-carotene intake, 0.96 (0.93-1.03) for a 2,500 microg/day increase in beta-carotene intake, 0.99 (0.97-1.02) for a 100 microg/day increase in beta-cryptoxanthin intake, 0.98 (0.94-1.03) for a 2,500 microg/day increase in lutein/zeaxanthin intake and 1.01 (0.97-1.05) for a 4,000 microg/day increase in lycopene intake. These associations did not appreciably differ by study (p-values, tests for between-studies heterogeneity >0.17). Also, the observed associations did not vary substantially by subgroups of the population or by histological type of ovarian cancer. These results suggest that consumption of the major carotenoids during adulthood does not play a major role in the incidence of ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koushik
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spiegelman
authors.forename: Kristin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Buring
authors.forename: Jo L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Freudenheim
authors.forename: R Alexandra
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Goldbohm
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hankinson
authors.forename: Susanna C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leitzmann
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Marjorie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.forename: Anthony B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rohan
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schatzkin
authors.forename: Leo J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Schouten
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolk
authors.forename: Shumin M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Smith-Warner
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D002338:Carotenoids; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids