Nitrosamines and heme iron and risk of prostate cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
A partir des données de la cohorte européenne EPIC incluant 139 005 hommes, cette étude évalue l'association entre la consommation alimentaire de fer, la présence de nitrosamines dans l'organisme et le risque de cancer de la prostate
Background: The evidence regarding nitrosamines and heme iron intake and cancer risk is limited, despite the biological plausibility of the hypothesis that these factors might increase cancer risk. We investigated the association between dietary nitrosamines and heme iron and the risk of prostate cancer among participants of EPIC. Methods: data on food consumption and complete follow-up for cancer occurrence was available for a 139,005 men, recruited in 8 European countries. Estimates of hazard ratios were obtained by proportional hazard models, stratified by age at recruitment, and study centre, and adjusted for total energy intake, smoking status, marital status, dairy products, educational level and body mass index. Results: after a mean follow-up of 10 years, 4606 participants were diagnosed with first incident prostate cancer. There was no overall association between prostate cancer risk and nitrosamines exposure (preformed and endogenous) or heme iron intake (HR for a doubling of intake: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.98-1.03 for N-Nitrosodimethlyamine, 0.95; 95% CI: 0.88-1.03 for endogenous Nitrosocompounds, and 1.00; 95 CI: 0.97-1.03 for heme iron).Conclusions and impact: Our findings do not support an effect of nitrosamines (endogenous and exogenous) and heme iron intake on prostate cancer risk.