Association of meat, vegetarian, pescatarian, and fish-poultry diets with risk of 19 cancer sites and all cancer: Findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study and meta-analysis

Parra-Soto, S. et al. (2022) Association of meat, vegetarian, pescatarian, and fish-poultry diets with risk of 19 cancer sites and all cancer: Findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 20, 79. (doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02257-9) (PMID:35655214) (PMCID:PMC9281076)

Abstract

Background: The associations of cancer with types of diets, including vegetarian, fish, and poultry-containing diets, remain unclear. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the association of type of diet with all cancers and 19 site-specific incident cancers in a prospective cohort study and then in a meta-analysis of published prospective cohort studies. Methods: A total of 409,110 participants from the UK Biobank study, recruited between 2006 and 2010, were included. The outcomes were incidence of all cancers combined and 19 cancer sites. Associations between the types of diets and cancer were investigated using Cox proportional hazards models. Previously published prospective cohort studies were identified from four databases, and a meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects models. Results: The mean follow-up period was 10.6 years (IQR 10.0; 11.3). Compared with meat-eaters, vegetarians (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87 [95% CI: 0.79 to 0.96]) and pescatarians (HR 0.93 [95% CI: 0.87 to 1.00]) had lower overall cancer risk. Vegetarians also had a lower risk of colorectal and prostate cancers compared with meat-eaters. In the meta-analysis, vegetarians (Risk Ratio (RR): 0.90 [0.86 to 0.94]) and pescatarians (RR 0.91 [0.86; 0.96]) had lower risk of overall and colorectal cancer. No associations between the types of diets and prostate, breast, or lung cancers were found. Conclusions: Compared with meat-eaters, vegetarians and pescatarians had a lower risk of overall, colorectal, and prostate cancer. When results were pooled in a meta-analysis, the associations with overall and colorectal cancer persisted, but the results relating to other specific cancer sites were inconclusive.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The UK Biobank was supported by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Department of Health, Scottish Government and Northwest Regional Development Agency. It also had funding from the Welsh Assembly Government and British Heart Foundation. S.P.-S. and FP-R receive financial support from the Chilean government for doing their PhD (ANID-Becas Chile). KML is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship [APP1173803]. This research was also funded by grant number IIG_FULL_2020_032 from the Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds (WKOF), as part of the World Cancer Research Fund International grant programme.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ho, Dr Frederick and Celis, Dr Carlos and Pell, Professor Jill and Anderson, Dr Jana and Parra, Solange and Petermann-Rocha, Mrs Fanny
• Authors: Parra-Soto, S., Ahumada, D., Petermann-Rocha, F., Boonpoor, J., Gallegos, J. L., Anderson, J., Sharp, L., Malcomson, F. C., Livingstone, K. M., Mathers, J. C., Pell, J. P., Ho, F. K., and Celis-Morales, C.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Public Health
• Journal Name: BMC Medicine
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• ISSN: 1741-7015
• ISSN (Online): 1741-7015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2022
• First Published: First published in BMC Medicine 20:79
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license