Carrot intake is consistently negatively associated with cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies

• Published in: Critical reviews in food science and nutrition 2023-12, p.1-13
• Main Authors: Ojobor, Charles C, O'Brien, Gerard M, Siervo, Mario, Ogbonnaya, Chibueze, Brandt, Kirsten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1040-8398; 1549-7852
• DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2023.2287176

Carrots are main dietary sources of several potential anti-cancer compounds, including polyacetylenes, while β-carotene has shown no benefits in controlled cancer trials. Accordingly, associations between carrot intake and cancer incidence were quantified, where necessary using α-carotene as a non-causal biomarker of carrot consumption, by searching for studies published before June 2022 reporting risk estimates for relationships of cancer incidence with carrot intake or α-carotene intake or α-carotene plasma concentration, supplemented with hand searches of included studies and reviews. Meta-analyses comparing highest and lowest reported intakes in prospective studies using a random-effects model estimated summary relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately for carrot intake or α-carotene plasma concentration, and the corresponding dose-responses. Of 198 observational studies, in 50 prospective studies with 52000 cases recording carrot intake, the cancer-risk was substantially reduced (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87-0.94, ˂ 0·00004). In 30 prospective studies with 9331 cases reporting plasma α-carotene levels, summary RR was 0.80 (0.72-0.89, ˂ 0·00006). For both exposure types, inter-study heterogeneity was moderate, interaction with cancer types insignificant, and the dose-response significant ( ˂ 0·01). In conclusion, carrot consumption is robustly associated with decreased cancer-risk; carrot consumption should be encouraged, and the causal mechanisms further investigated.