title: Nutrition and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer: the evidence for any association remains weak and clinical significance remains limited.
abstract: METHODS
  Incident oral/pharyngeal cancer cases (n = 804) from 3 Italian geographic areas recruited from 1992 to 2005 were compared with 2080 contemporaneous patients admitted with non-neoplastic diagnoses at the same hospitals. Controls were matched with cases for sex, age, and study center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Food ingested by patients was rated for contents of 29 nutrients and then organized into recognizable dietary patterns. Weekly patient intake of the nutrients was divided by quintiles (highest to lowest intake of the nutrient) and the risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer associated with specific diets was calculated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main outcome was a diagnosis of oral/pharyngeal cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A diet rich (top quintile) in animal products was associated with oral/pharyngeal cancer with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13- 2.15, when compared with the lowest quintile. Similar analyses for starch, vitamins and fiber, and unsaturated fats yielded ORs (95% CIs) of 0.71(0.50- 0.99), 0.47(0.34- 0.65), and 0.63(0.45- 0.86), respectively. A fifth category (retinol and niacin) had no association with cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diets rich in fruits and vegetables, cereals, and olive oil confer protection against oral/pharyngeal cancer, whereas foods rich in animal products such as dairy and meat increase the risk for the disease.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of General Dental Sciences, SDB 111, 1530 3rd Avenue S, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007, USA. abarasch@uab.edu
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barasch
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Litaker