Sugar-sweetened beverages up CRC risk

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages appears to raise the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), independent of CRC mortality, results of a meta-analysis have shown.

A team of investigators performed a systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Sinomed (CBM), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and China Science and Technology Journal VIP databases. Articles were restricted to be available in any language until 31 March 2022.

Pooled relative risks (RRs) were calculated using the highest exposed categories to explore the relationship of sugar-sweetened beverages with CRC risk and mortality. Finally, the investigators evaluated the heterogeneity with the Cochran Q statistic and quantified using the I2 statistic.

Seventeen studies (six case-control and 11 cohort) including a total of 557,391 participants met the eligibility criteria for meta-analysis. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages correlated with higher CRC incidence (pooled RR, 1.17, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.07‒1.28) and mortality (RR, 1.13, 95 percent CI, 0.99‒1.29).

Subgroup analysis revealed an association in the distal colon (pooled RR, 1.41, 95 percent CI, 1.10‒1.80). No association was observed in the proximal colon (pooled RR, 1.58, 95 percent CI, 0.79‒3.17).

Notably, CRC incidence significantly correlated with sugar-sweetened beverages intake in North America (pooled RR, 1.16, 95 percent CI, 1.00‒1.33) and Oceania (pooled RR, 1.32, 95 percent CI, 1.13‒1.55). Sensitivity analysis also revealed an association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and CRC risk after excluding each study and calculating heterogeneity and effect sizes.

“Whether CRC risk increases with increased sugar-sweetened beverage intake needs further investigation in the future,” the investigators said.