title: Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research recommendations and head and neck cancers risk.
abstract: The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have proposed eight recommendations for cancer prevention, related to body fatness, diet, and physical activity. Our aim is to evaluate the role of adherence to these recommendations on head and neck cancers risk.
  
  
  
  We obtained an overall score including seven of the WCRF/AICR recommendations, and examined its relationship with head and neck cancers risk in two Italian case-control studies including 946 patients with oral cavity and pharyngeal (OCP) cancer and 2492 controls, and 689 patients with laryngeal cancer and 1605 controls.
  
  
  
  Higher adherence to WCRF/AICR recommendations was associated to a reduced risk of OCP cancer (odds ratio, OR=0.45, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.33-0.62 for a score of 4-<5, and OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.22-0.49 for a score of ⩾5 as compared to <3). The ORs for laryngeal cancer were 0.68 (95% CI: 0.50-0.92) for a score of 3-<4, 0.39 (95% CI: 0.28-0.55) for a score of 4-<5, and 0.24 (95% CI: 0.15-0.38) for a score of ⩾5.
  
  
  
  Our study indicates that high adherence to the WCRF/AICR recommendations for cancer prevention is associated with a substantially decreased risk of head and neck cancers.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", via G. La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.bravi@marionegri.it.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bravi
authors.affiliation: S.O.C. Epidemiologia Oncologica, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, via F. Gallini 2, 33081 Aviano (PN), Italy.
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polesel
authors.affiliation: Clinica Otorinolaringoiatrica, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, via Cadore 48, 20052 Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Garavello
authors.affiliation: S.O.C. Epidemiologia Oncologica, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, via F. Gallini 2, 33081 Aviano (PN), Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serraino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", via G. La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.affiliation: S.O.C. Oncologia Radioterapica, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, via F. Gallini 2, 33081 Aviano (PN), Italy.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Franchin
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e di Comunità, Università degli Studi di Milano, via A. Vanzetti 5, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Vecchia
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", via G. La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bosetti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: American Institute for Cancer Research; Case control study; Diet; Head and neck cancer; Risk factors; World Cancer Research Fund