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High glycemic index and glycemic load are associated with moderately increased cancer risk
Author(s) -
Turati Federica,
Galeone Carlotta,
Gandini Sara,
Augustin Livia S.,
Jenkins David J. A.,
Pelucchi Claudio,
Vecchia Carlo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.201400594
Subject(s) - medicine , glycemic load , glycemic index , meta analysis , relative risk , cancer , oncology , gastroenterology , colorectal cancer , esophageal cancer , subgroup analysis , glycemic , confidence interval , insulin
Scope To obtain an up‐to‐date quantification of the association between dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) and the risk of cancer. Methods and results We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies updated to January 2015. Summary relative risks (RRs) were derived using random effects models. Seventy‐five reports were evaluated in the systematic review (147 090 cases), and 72 were included in the meta‐analyses by cancer site. Considering hormone‐related cancers, summary RRs comparing the highest versus the lowest GI and GL intake were, respectively, 1.05 and 1.07 for breast, 1.13 and 1.17 for endometrial, 1.11 and 1.19 for ovarian, and 1.06 and 1.04 for prostate cancers. Considering digestive‐tract cancers, summary RRs for GI and GL were, respectively, 1.46 and 1.25 for esophageal (squamous cell carcinoma), 1.17 and 1.10 for stomach, 1.16 (significant) and 1.10 for colorectal, 1.11 and 1.14 for liver, and 1.10 and 1.01 for pancreatic cancers. In most of these meta‐analyses, significant heterogeneity among studies was observed. In subgroup analyses, case–control studies and studies from Europe tended to estimate higher RRs. Conclusion High‐GI and high‐GL diets are related to moderately increased risk of cancer at several common sites.