Dietary Patterns and Risk of Ovarian Cancer in the California Teachers Study Cohort

• Published in: Nutrition and cancer 2008-01, Vol.60 (3), p.285-291
• Main Authors: Chang, E.T, Lee, V.S, Canchola, A.J, Dalvi, T.B, Clarke, C.A, Reynolds, P, Purdie, D.M, Stram, D.O, West, D.W, Ziogas, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; carcinogenesis; Cluster Analysis; Cohort Studies; Diet; eating habits; Feeding Behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Female genital diseases; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Incidence; lifestyle; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; ovarian neoplasms; Ovarian Neoplasms - epidemiology; Ovarian Neoplasms - etiology; Postmenopause; Principal Component Analysis; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; sociodemographic characteristics; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; teachers; Tumors; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; women
• ISSN: 0163-5581; 1532-7914
• DOI: 10.1080/01635580701733091

Previous studies have examined the association between individual foods or nutrients, but not overall diet, and ovarian cancer risk. To account for the clustering of foods in the diet, we investigated the association between dietary patterns and risk of ovarian cancer in the prospective California Teachers Study cohort. Of 97,292 eligible women who completed the baseline dietary assessment in 1995-1996, 311 women developed epithelial ovarian cancer on or before December 31, 2004. Based on principal components analysis, 5 major dietary patterns were identified and termed plant-based, high-protein/high-fat, high-carbohydrate, ethnic, and salad-and-wine. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate associations between these dietary patterns and risk of incident ovarian cancer. Most of the dietary patterns were not significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk. However, women who followed a plant-based diet had higher risk; comparing those in the top quintile of plant-based food intake with those in the lowest quintile, the relative risk of ovarian cancer was 1.65 (95% confidence interval = 1.07-2.54; Ptrend = 0.03). Associations with the 5 dietary patterns did not vary by known ovarian cancer risk factors or other behavioral or sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, our results show no convincing associations between dietary patterns and ovarian cancer risk.