Intake of fruits and vegetables, and risk of endometrial cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.
BACKGROUND
Fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of phytochemicals which may have anti-carcinogenic effects. Although the results of case-control studies have suggested a possible protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake on the risk of endometrial carcinoma, few cohort studies have examined this association.


METHODS
We used data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study to assess the association of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as intake of specific botanical groupings of fruits and vegetables, with endometrial cancer risk among 112,088 women who completed a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline, in 1995-1996. During 8 years of follow-up 1142 incident cases of endometrial cancer were ascertained. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).


RESULTS
After adjustment for covariates, HRs for the highest compared to the lowest quintile of total fruit and total vegetable intake were 1.30 (95% CI 1.04-1.61, P for trend 0.05) and 1.09 (95% CI 0.90-1.33, P for trend 0.55), respectively. No inverse associations were observed for intake of any of 13 botanical groupings of fruits and vegetables.


CONCLUSIONS
Results from this large prospective study do not support a protective role of a high intake of fruits or vegetables on the risk of endometrial cancer in older women.
Kabat
Geoffrey C
GC
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. Geoffrey.kabat@einstein.yu.edu
Park
Yikyung
Y
Hollenbeck
Albert R
AR
Schatzkin
Arthur
A
Rohan
Thomas E
TE
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014675:Vegetables