Diet and colorectal cancer risk: Yes to dairy, no to alcohol

Several foods are associated with the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), with alcohol bearing a risk increase while dairy products and calcium showing a protective effect, among others, according to a study.

The current diet-wide association study used data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The researchers assessed 92 food and nutrient intakes in 386,792 participants, among whom 5,069 developed CRC.

Additionally, the researchers corrected for multiple comparisons using the false discovery rate and examined emerging associations in the Netherlands Cohort Study (NLCS). They also tested multiplicative gene-nutrient interactions in EPIC based on known CRC-associated loci.

In EPIC, consuming high amounts of alcohol, liquor/spirits, wine, beer/cider, soft drinks, and pork was associated with an increased risk of CRC. Conversely, increased intake of milk, cheese, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin B6, beta-carotene, fruit, fibre, nonwhite bread, banana, and total protein had a protective benefit.

Of the said associations, 13 were replicated in NLCS. The pooled hazard ratios for CRC risk per 1 SD increment in intake were 1.07 for alcohol, 1.04 for liquor/spirits, 1.04 for wine, 1.06 for beer/cider, 0.95 for milk, 0.96 for cheese, 0.93 for calcium, 0.92 for phosphorus, 0.95 for magnesium, 0.96 for potassium, 0.94 for riboflavin, 0.96 for beta-carotene, and 0.94 for total protein.

None of the gene-nutrient interactions remained significant following adjustment for multiple comparisons.