Choline and betaine intake and the risk of colorectal cancer in men
Open accessAbstract
Dietary choline and betaine have been hypothesized to decrease the risk of cancer because of their role as methyl donors in the one-carbon metabolism. However, it remains unknown whether dietary intake of choline and betaine is associated with colorectal cancer risk. We prospectively examined the associations between dietary choline and betaine intake and risk of colorectal cancer in men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. We followed 47,302 men and identified a total of 987 incident colorectal cancer cases from 1986 to 2004. We assessed dietary and supplemental choline and betaine intake every 4 years using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate multivariate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals. All statistical tests were two-sided. We did not find any statistically significant associations between choline intake or betaine intake and risk of colorectal cancer. Comparing the top quintile with bottom quintile, multivariate relative risks (95% confidence interval) were 0.97 (0.79-1.20; P(trend) = 0.87) for choline intake and 0.94 (0.77-1.16; P(trend) = 0.79) for betaine intake. Similarly, we observed no associations between colorectal cancer risk and choline from free choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine, phosphatidylcholine, or sphingomyelin. Our data do not support the hypothesis that choline and betaine intake is inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk.
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Some but not all prospective studies associated higher dietary and plasma levels of choline with increased risk of colorectal neoplasia.
“Some,147, 148 but not all,149–151 prospective studies have associated higher dietary and plasma levels of choline with increased risk of colorectal neoplasia.”
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- Authors
- Lee, J. E., Giovannucci, E., Fuchs, C. S., Willett, W. C., Zeisel, S. H., & Cho, E.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Jung Eun
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
- Published
- 2010-03-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 884-887
- ISSN
- 1055-9965 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-7755
- PMC
- PMC2882060
- OpenAlex
- W2107160040
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University) (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (CA55075)
- National Cancer Institute (CA-55075, R03CA125763, CA125763, P01CA055075)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK055865, DK-55865, P30DK040561)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30ES010126)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Folate and B Vitamins Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Colorectal Cancer Treatments and Studies
- Keywords
- choline, betaine, colorectal cancer, dietary intake, methyl donors, one-carbon metabolism, cancer risk, men, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, dietary supplements, phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Betaine, Choline, Diet, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Colorectal Neoplasms
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