Epithelial ovarian cancer and exposure to dietary nitrate and nitrite in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study
Open accessAbstract
Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States and it has the highest mortality rate of all gynecologic cancers. Internationally, there is a five-fold variation in incidence and mortality of ovarian cancer, which suggests a role for environmental factors, including diet. Nitrate and nitrite are found in various food items and they are precursors of N-nitroso compounds, which are known carcinogens in animal models. We evaluated dietary nitrate and nitrite intake and epithelial ovarian cancer in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and Health Study, including 151 316 women aged 50-71 years at the time of the baseline questionnaire in 1995-1996. The nitrate and nitrite intake was assessed using a 124-item validated food frequency questionnaire. Through 31 December 2006, 709 incident epithelial ovarian cancer cases with complete dietary information were identified. Using Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), women in the highest intake quintile of dietary nitrate had a 31% increased risk (95% CI: 1.01-1.68) of epithelial ovarian cancer, compared with those in the lowest intake quintile. Although there was no association for total dietary nitrite, those in the highest intake category of animal sources of nitrite had a 34% increased risk (95% CI: 1.05-1.69) of ovarian cancer. There were no clear differences in risk by histologic subtype of ovarian cancer. Our findings suggest that a role of dietary nitrate and nitrite in ovarian cancer risk should be followed in other large cohort studies.
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- Authors
- Aschebrook-Kilfoy, B., Ward, M. H., Gierach, G. L., Schatzkin, A., Hollenbeck, A. R., Sinha, R., & Cross, A. J.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- AARP (US)
- Venue
- European Journal of Cancer Prevention
- Published
- 2012-01
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 65-72
- ISSN
- 0959-8278 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3394850
- OpenAlex
- W1993944273
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 4.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Cancer Prevention (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute (Z01CP010196)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment
- Keywords
- epithelial ovarian cancer, dietary nitrate, dietary nitrite, N-nitroso compounds, cancer risk, histological subtypes, environmental carcinogens, diet and cancer
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous, Diet, Diet Surveys, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), Nitrates, Nitrites, Ovarian Neoplasms, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, United States, Incidence, Endometrial Neoplasms, Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell
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