Cruciferous vegetable intake helps prevent NMIBC recurrence, progression

Exposure to dietary isothiocyanates (ITCs) through the consumption of cruciferous vegetables (CVs) appears to contribute to the reduction in risks of recurrence and progression in patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), suggests a study.

A total of 1,143 participants from the Be-Well study, a prospective cohort of newly diagnosed NMIBC patients in 2015 to 2019 with no prior history of bladder cancer, were included in the analysis. Dietary ITC exposure was determined by self-reported CV intake, estimated ITC intake, urinary metabolites, and plasma ITC‒albumin adducts.

The investigators calculated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) for recurrence and progression using Cox proportional hazards regression models. They also calculated the odds ratios (ORs) for delayed and multiple recurrence using unconditional logistic regression models.

Recurrence occurred in 347 patients (30 percent) and disease progression in 77 (6.7 percent) over a mean follow-up of 25 months. Urinary ITC metabolites (OR, 1.96, 95 percent CI, 1.01‒4.43) and dietary ITC intake (OR, 2.13, 95 percent CI, 1.03‒4.50) correlated with late recurrence after compared with before 12 months postdiagnosis despite no significant associations with the overall recurrence risk.

Raw CV intake also appeared to lower the likelihood of having two or more recurrences compared with having one (OR, 0.34, 95 percent CI, 0.16‒0.68).

In addition, higher plasma concentrations of ITC‒albumin adducts correlated with a reduced risk of progression, including progression to muscle-invasive disease (for benzyl ITC: HR, 0.40, 95 percent CI, 0.17‒0.93; for phenethyl ITC: HR, 0.40, 95 percent CI, 0.19‒0.86).

“Given the compelling preclinical evidence, increasing dietary ITC exposure with CV intake could be a promising strategy to attenuate recurrence and progression risks in patients with NMIBC,” the investigators said.