title: Vegetable intake, but not fruit intake, is associated with a reduction in the risk of cancer incidence and mortality in middle-aged Korean men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few prospective studies have examined the preventive role of fruit and vegetable intakes against cancer in Asian populations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This prospective study evaluated the associations between total fruit intake, total vegetable intake, and total fruit and vegetable intake and total cancer incidence and mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective cohort study included 14,198 men 40-59 y of age enrolled in the Seoul Male Cohort Study from 1991 to 1993. Fruit and vegetable intakes were assessed by a validated food-frequency questionnaire. We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to compute RR ratios and 95% CIs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the follow-up period from 1993 to 2008, 1343 men were diagnosed with cancer, and 507 died of cancer. Total vegetable intake was linearly associated with cancer incidence but was nonlinearly associated with cancer mortality; by comparing ≥ 500 g/d with <100 g/d of total vegetable intake, the multivariable-adjusted RR for total cancer incidence was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.90; P-trend: 0.02; P-nonlinearity: 0.06). For total cancer mortality, the multivariable-adjusted RRs comparing 100 to <200 g/d, 200 to <300 g/d, 300 to <500 g/d, and ≥ 500 g/d with <100 g/d of total vegetable intake were 0.68 (95% CI: 0.53, 0.88), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.98), 0.72 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.95), and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.95), respectively (P-trend: 0.09; P-nonlinearity: 0.01). No associations were found between total fruit intake and total cancer incidence and mortality; ≥ 300 g/d vs. <50 g/d, RR: 1.04 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.25; P-trend = 0.56) for incidence and RR: 0.89 (95% CI: 0.66, 1.21; P-trend = 0.71) for mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that total vegetable intake is linearly associated with cancer incidence but nonlinearly associated with total cancer mortality in middle-aged Korean men. However, total fruit intake is not associated with total cancer incidence or mortality.
authors: Women's Health Research Institute and Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;
authors: Yuni
authors: Y
authors: Choi
authors: Women's Health Research Institute and Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;
authors: Jung Eun
authors: JE
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, Cheju National University College of Medicine, Jeju, Republic of Korea;
authors: Jong-Myon
authors: JM
authors: Bae
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China;
authors: Zhong-Min
authors: ZM
authors: Li
authors: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea;
authors: Dong-Hyun
authors: DH
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;
authors: Moo-Song
authors: MS
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; and.
authors: Yoon-Ok
authors: YO
authors: Ahn
authors: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea mhshin@skku.edu.
authors: Myung-Hee
authors: MH
authors: Shin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Asian; cancer; diet; fruits; incidence; mortality; prospective study; vegetables