DIETARY VITAMIN A AND RISK OF CANCER IN THE WESTERN ELECTRIC STUDY

Intake of dietary provitamin A (carotene) was inversely related to the 19-year incidence of lung cancer in a prospective epidemiological study of 1954 middle-aged men. The relative risks of lung cancer in the first (lowest) to fourth quartiles of the distribution of carotene intake were respectively, 7.0, 5.5, 3.0, and 1.0 for all men in the study, and 8.1, 5.6, 3.9, and 1.0 for men who had smoked cigarettes for 30 or more years. Intake of preformed vitamin A (retinol) and intake of other nutrients were not significantly related to the risk of lung cancer. Neither carotene nor retinol intake was significantly related to the risk of other carcinomas grouped together, although for men in whom epidermoid carcinomas of the head and neck subsequently developed, carotene intake tended to be below average. These results support the hypothesis that dietary beta-carotene decreased the risk of lung cancer. However, cigarette smoking also increases the risk of serious diseases other than lung cancer, and there is no evidence that dietary carotenoids affect these other risks in any way.

[1]  W. H. Phelan,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of Coronary Heart Disease , 1963, Circulation.

[2]  C. Mettlin,et al.  Vitamin A and lung cancer. , 1979, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[3]  J. Fleiss.  Statistical methods for rates and proportions , 1974 .

[4]  Anna De Planter Bowes,et al.  Food values of portions commonly used , 1980 .

[5]  M. Hardinge,et al.  Fatty acid composition of food fats. , 1958, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[6]  E. Bjelke,et al.  Dietary vitamin a and human lung cancer , 1975, International journal of cancer.

[7]  D. Jacobs,et al.  Diet and serum cholesterol: do zero correlations negate the relationship? , 1979, American journal of epidemiology.

[8]  N. Day,et al.  Risk factors for lung cancer in singapore chinese, a population with high female incidence rates , 1977, International journal of cancer.

[9]  A. Keys.  DIETARY SURVEY METHODS IN STUDIES ON CARDIOVASCULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY. , 1965, Voeding.

[10]  Michael J. Wilson,et al.  Comparison of dietary histories in lung cancer cases and controls with special reference to vitamin A , 1980 .

[11]  M. Sporn,et al.  Can dietary beta-carotene materially reduce human cancer rates? , 1981, Nature.

[12]  M. Sporn,et al.  Chemoprevention of cancer with retinoids. , 1979, Federation proceedings.

[13]  A. Smith,et al.  The relationship of serum cholesterol to the incidence of cancer in Evans County, Georgia. , 1980, Journal of chronic diseases.

[14]  O. Hayes,et al.  Supplementary food composition table. , 1957, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[15]  R. Doll,et al.  Cigarette smoking andbronchial carcinoma: doseand time relationships amongregular smokers andlifelong non-smokers , 1978 .

[16]  J. Kalbfleisch,et al.  The Statistical Analysis of Failure Time Data , 1980 .

[17]  R. Doll,et al.  Cigarette smoking and bronchial carcinoma: dose and time relationships among regular smokers and lifelong non-smokers. , 1978, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[18]  A. Smith,et al.  RETINOL, CAROTENE, AND THE CANCER/ CHOLESTEROL ASSOCIATION , 1981, The Lancet.

[19]  A. Dyer,et al.  Statistical methods to assess and minimize the role of intra-individual variability in obscuring the relationship between dietary lipids and serum cholesterol. , 1978, Journal of chronic diseases.

[20]  T. Hirayama.  Diet and cancer , 1979 .