Dietary mineral intake and lung cancer risk: the Rotterdam Study

Lies Lahousse,Oscar H. Franco,Guy Brusselle,Jessica C. Kiefte-de Jong,Rikje Ruiter,Bledar Kraja,Catherine E. de Keyser,Taulant Muka,Bruno H. Stricker,Albert Hofman

doi:10.1007/s00394-016-1210-4

Abstract

ObjectiveLimited data are available on the role of mineral intake in the development of lung cancer (LC). We investigated whether dietary calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc intake were associated with LC risk.MethodsWe analyzed data from 5435 participants of the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and older. At baseline (1990–1993), diet was measured by a validated food frequency questionnaire. LC events were diagnosed on the basis of pathology data and medical records. Hazard ratios (HRs) on LC for energy-adjusted mineral intake were calculated using Cox regression models while adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsDuring a follow-up period of 22 years, we identified 211 incident cases of LC. A higher zinc intake was associated with 42 % reduction in risk of LC (top tertile vs. first tertile: HR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.35; 0.94, P-for trend = 0.039). Similarly, high intake of iron was associated with reduced risk of LC (top tertile vs. first tertile: HR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.37; 0.92, P-for trend = 0.021). There was no association between dietary intake of calcium, copper, magnesium and selenium and LC risk.ConclusionsOur results suggest that dietary zinc and iron intake are associated with reduced risk of LC. No evidence was found for an association between calcium, copper, magnesium and selenium intake and LC risk.

Highlights

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and incurs the highest economic burden of all cancers [1, 2]
The overall variance explained by these food items for zinc, iron, magnesium, selenium, copper and calcium intake varied from 27 % for copper to 80 % for calcium (Table 2)
The associations were not significantly different when the subtypes of lung cancer were examined separately (Supplemental Table 5–6). In this prospective population-based cohort study, we found that dietary intake of zinc and iron was associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer

Summary

Introduction

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and incurs the highest economic burden of all cancers [1, 2]. To date, limited evidence exists on the role of dietary mineral intake, such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc in the development of lung cancer [4,5,6,7,8]. Epidemiological studies have shown that DNA repair capacity is associated with increased lung cancer risk [3, 15, 16]. Calcium is another important mineral involved in processes of cell proliferation and carcinogenesis through cell signaling and cell cycle regulation [17].

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Results

Discussion

Compliance with ethical standards