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No association between garlic intake and risk of colorectal cancer
Author(s) -
Meng Shasha,
Zhang Xuehong,
Giovannucci Edward L,
Ma Jing,
Fuchs Charles,
Cho Eunyoung
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.847.20
Subject(s) - medicine , colorectal cancer , hazard ratio , incidence (geometry) , relative risk , lower risk , proportional hazards model , confidence interval , cancer , cancer prevention , prospective cohort study , environmental health , physics , optics
Background Although experimental studies have suggested that garlic intake may reduce cancer risk, limited prospective studies have evaluated garlic intake and colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence. Methods We followed 76,208 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and 45,592 men in the Health Professionals Follow‐up Study up to 24 years and examined cumulative garlic intake and garlic supplement use in relation to CRC risk. Information on garlic intake and supplement use was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire and Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate the multivariable relative risk (MV‐RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results We found no association between garlic intake and CRC risk; the MV‐RR (95% CI) associated with garlic (1 clove or 4 shakes) intake ≥1/day compared with <1/month were 1.21 (0.94–1.57; p‐trend=0.14) for women and 1.00 (0.71–1.42; p‐trend=0.89) for men in 2,368 incident CRC cases. The MV‐RRs (95% CIs) of CRC for garlic supplement use, which was used in 6% of the participants in each study, were 0.72 (0.48–1.07) for women and 1.22 (0.83–1.78) for men. Conclusion Our data do not support a beneficial role of garlic intake or garlic supplement use in colorectal carcinogenesis. Intake of garlic or use of garlic supplement is not warranted to reduce colorectal cancer risk. Funding: This study was supported by research grant CA136950, CA87969, and CA55075 from the National Institutes of Health. Grant Funding Source : NIH