Fiber Intake Affects Risk of Oral, Pharyngeal and Esophageal Cancer
The results of this study indicate nearly half the risk of cancer in those taking in higher amounts of fiber from various sources. If you remember back a few months ago when one research study showed no protection of fiber on colon cancer (which was commented on in this newsletter…) the findings were all over the news. Didn’t hear this study anywhere, did you? I still firmly believe that fiber IS protective against colon cancer, and this study showing protection in other areas of the GI tract just confirm my beliefs.
Int J Cancer 2001;91:283-287 Dr. Cristina Bosetti, of Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, and colleagues used data from a case-control study conducted in Italy to investigate the relation between consumption of various types of fiber and oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer. Cases included 271 patients with oral cancer, 327 with pharyngeal cancer and 304 with esophageal cancer. Controls included 1950 subjects with acute, nonneoplastic diseases. The subjects were interviewed during their hospital stay using a validated food frequency questionnaire. The researchers calculated odds ratios after adjustment for age, sex, and other confounding factors, including alcohol and tobacco consumption and energy intake. According to the report, “the odds ratios for the highest versus the lowest quintile of intake of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer combined were 0.40 for total (Englyst) fiber, 0.37 for soluble fiber, 0.52 for cellulose, 0.48 for insoluble noncellulose polysaccharide, 0.33 for total insoluble fiber, and 0.38 for lignin.” The investigators report that the inverse relation was similar for vegetable fiber, fruit fiber and grain fiber, with odds ratios of 0.51, 0.60 and 0.56, respectively. However, the inverse relation was somewhat stronger for oral and pharyngeal cancer than for esophageal cancer. The odds ratios were similar for the two sexes. “The present results confirm the findings of other studies of upper digestive tract neoplasms conducted in North America and Europe, dealing mainly with whole grain cereals,” Dr. Bosetti and colleagues comment.