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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #234598
Title: Dietary intake of selected flavonols, flavones, and flavonoid-rich food and risk of cancer in middle-aged and older women

Author
item WANG, LU - BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSP
item LEE, I-MIN - BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSP
item ZHANG, SHUMIN - BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSP
item Blumberg, Jeffrey
item BURING, JULIE - HARVARD SCH OF PUB HEALTH
item SESSO, HOWARD - BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSP

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/2/2008
Publication Date: 3/1/2009
Citation: Wang, L., Lee, I., Zhang, S., Blumberg, J., Buring, J.E., Sesso, H. 2009. Dietary intake of selected flavonols, flavones, and flavonoid-rich food and risk of cancer in middle-aged and older women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 89(3):905-912.

Interpretive Summary: Consumption of fruits and vegetables has been consistently associated with reduced risk of human cancers. Flavonoids are a group of plant compounds widely distributed in fruits, vegetables, and beverages that have been associated with protection against several forms of cancer. However, it is not clear this benefit of a diet rich in plant foods is derived in a significant manner from their constituent flavonoids as data from observations of different populations provide mixed results. Thus, we investigated the prospective association between intake of selected flavonoids and flavonoids-rich foods with risk of cancers in the Women’s Health Study. We examined a total of 3,234 incident cancer cases among 38,408 women aged 45 years or older who were followed for over 11 years. Intakes of five prevalent flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, apigenin, luteolin) were assessed from food frequency questionnaires. We found no significant association between the intake of these five flavonoids or their combined intake and the risk of breast, colorectal, lung, endometrial or ovarian cancer. Further, we found no significant association between intake of specific flavonoid-rich foods and the incidence of total and site-specific cancers. In conclusion, the results from this study do not support a major role of these common flavonoids or selected flavonoid-rich foods in cancer prevention.

Technical Abstract: Background: Flavonoids may have protective effects on cancer development through several mechanisms. However, epidemiological studies on dietary flavonoids and cancer risk have obtained inconsistent results. Objective: We investigated the prospective association between intake of selected flavonoids and flavonoids-rich foods with risk of cancers in the Women’s Health Study. Design: A total of 3,234 incident cancer cases were identified during 11.5 years of follow-up among 38,408 women aged >/-45 years. Intakes of individual flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin) and flavones (apigenin, luteolin) were assessed from food frequency questionnaires. Cox regression models were used to estimate the relative risks (RR) of total and site-specific cancer across increasing intake of total and individual selected flavonoids and selected flavonoid-rich foods (tea, apple, broccoli, onion, and tofu). Results: The multivariate RRs of total cancer across increasing quintiles of total quantified flavonoid intake were 1.00, 1.00, 0.93, 0.94, and 0.97 (p for trend: 0.72). For site-specific cancers, the multivariate RRs in the highest quintile of total quantified flavonoids compared to the lowest quintile were 1.03 for breast cancer, 1.01 for colorectal cancer, 1.03 for lung cancer, 1.15 for endometrial cancer, and 1.09 for ovarian cancer (all p>0.05). The associations observed for the individual flavonoids were similar to those observed for their total intake. There was also no significant association between intake of flavonoid-rich foods and the incidence of total and site–specific cancers. Conclusion: Our study results do not support a major role of 5 common flavonols and flavones or selected flavonoid-rich foods in cancer prevention.