Abstract
Several epidemiological studies have shown that there are consistently positive associations between dietary inflammatory index (DII®) scores and cancer incidence in Western populations. However, few DII-cancer studies have been conducted in East Asian populations. In a large cohort representative of the general Korean population, we investigated whether the DII is associated with overall cancer risk. A total of 163,660 participants (56,781 males and 106,879 females) had evaluable data for analyses. This follow-up study was carried out over the course of 7.9 years. DII scores were calculated based on Semi-Quantitative Food-Frequency Questionnaire (SQ-FFQ) data for 106 food items. Cancers were self-reported based on notification by the participants’ medical doctors. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). After the follow-up, 1643 incident cases of cancer (520 males and 1123 females) had developed. In a fully adjusted model, women in the highest DII quintile showed a 44% increased risk of getting cancer (HRQ5vsQ1 = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.14–1.82; p-trend = 0.0006), while men showed no apparent association (HRQ5vsQ1 = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.58–1.10). These results indicate that in Korean women, a more pro-inflammatory diet is associated with a higher risk of incident cancer.
Highlights
Cancer is the generic term for a group of diseases that arises from abnormal cell growth, which can lead to metastasis in a multistage process
The percentage of people who exercised regularly was lower as Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) increased
History of cancer did not show any remarkable tendency across DII quintiles
Summary
Cancer is the generic term for a group of diseases that arises from abnormal cell growth, which can lead to metastasis in a multistage process. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for 9.6 million deaths in 2018, notably causing 70% of deaths in developing countries [1]. In South Korea, cancer is the first leading cause of death: The number of deaths caused by cancer in 2018 was 86,281, 28.9% of the total. Development of cancer is influenced by genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. The main risk factors are tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity, while other factors include radiation, stress, environmental pollutants, and genetic defects [1,3]. Cancer onset inflicts physical and mental pain on patients and their families and puts them under financial strain
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