Analyses on the Associations of Dietary Patterns with Colon Cancer Risk

Oh, Se Young; Lee, Ji Hyun; Kim, Hyo Jong

Abstract

Dietary pattern analysis is important complementary approach for identifying associations between diet and chronic disease. A case-control study was conducted in order to examine dietary patterns and the risk of colon cancer in Korea. Data were collected from both 137 cases with either colorectal cancer or large bowl adenomatous polyps and 134 controls regarding social-demographic characteristics and food intake using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. We conducted factor analysis and identified 6 major dietary patterns: "Well-being diet" characterized by higher intakes of potatoes, yogurt, soybean paste and vegetables, "Meat & fish", "Milk & juice", "Pork & alcohol", "Rice & kimchi", and "Coffee & cake". We calculated factor scores for each participant and examined the associations between dietary patterns and colon cancer risk. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was a relative risk for colon cancer of 0.16 (95% confidence interval, 0.07 - 0.34) when comparing the highest with the lowest tertile of the "Well-being" pattern. Significant trends of decreasing risk of colon cancer also emerged with the "Milk & juice" (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.20 - 0.79). In contrast, inverse associations of the risk were found for "Pork & alcohol" (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 0.93 - 3.97), "Coffee & cake" (OR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.07 - 4.46). For the "Meat & fish" pattern, the decreased risk of colon cancer was observed in the second tertile, but not in the highest tertile when comparing to the lowest. The "Rice & kimchi" pattern had a nonsignificant association with the risk. These data suggest that major dietary patterns derived from the FFQ associated with the risk of colon cancer in Korea. Since foods are not consumed in isolation, dietary pattern research in natural eating behavior may be useful for understanding dietary causes of colon cancer.