Food groups, diet quality and colorectal cancer risk in the Basque Country.
Iker Alegria-Lertxundi, Carmelo Aguirre, Luis Bujanda, Francisco J Fernández, Francisco Polo, José Mª Ordovás, Mª Carmen Etxezarraga, Iñaki Zabalza, Mikel Larzabal, Isabel Portillo, Marian M de Pancorbo, Koldo Garcia-Etxebarria, Ana Mª Rocandio, Marta Arroyo-Izaga
Author Information
Iker Alegria-Lertxundi: Department of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz 01006, Spain.
Carmelo Aguirre: Pharmacovigilance Unit, Galdakao-Usansolo University Hospital, Osakidetza, Galdakao 48960, Spain.
Luis Bujanda: Department of Gastroenterology, Donostia University Hospital / Biodonostia, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), San Sebastian 20014, Spain.
Francisco J Fernández: Department of Gastroenterology, Galdakao-Usansolo University Hospital, Osakidetza, Galdakao 48960, Spain.
Francisco Polo: Department of Gastroenterology, Basurto University Hospital, Osakidetza, Bilbao 48013, Spain.
José Mª Ordovás: Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, United States of America; IMDEA Food, Madrid 28049, Spain.
Mª Carmen Etxezarraga: Department of Pathology, Basurto University Hospital, Osakidetza, Bilbao 48013, Spain; Department of Physician and Surgeon Specialities, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa 48940, Spain.
Iñaki Zabalza: Department of Pathology, Galdakao-Usansolo University Hospital, Osakidetza, Galdakao 48960, Spain.
Mikel Larzabal: Department of Pathology, Donostia Hospital / Biodonostia, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), San Sebastian 20014, Spain.
Isabel Portillo: Colorectal cancer screening programme, Osakidetza, Bilbao 48011, Spain.
Marian M de Pancorbo: BIOMICs Research Group, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz 01006, Spain.
Koldo Garcia-Etxebarria: Biodonostia, Gastrointestinal genetics group, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), San Sebastian 20014, Spain.
Ana Mª Rocandio: BIOMICs Research Group, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz 01006, Spain.
Marta Arroyo-Izaga: Department of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz 01006, Spain. marta.arroyo@ehu.eus.
BACKGROUND: The results obtained to date concerning food groups, diet quality and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk vary according to criteria used and the study populations. AIM: To study the relationships between food groups, diet quality and CRC risk, in an adult population of the Basque Country (North of Spain). METHODS: This observational study included 308 patients diagnosed with CRC and 308 age- and sex-matched subjects as controls. During recruitment, dietary, anthropometric, lifestyle, socioeconomic, demographic and health status information was collected. Adherence to the dietary recommendations was evaluated utilizing the Healthy Eating Index for the Spanish Diet and the MedDietScore. Conditional logistic regressions were used to evaluate the associations of food group intakes, diet quality scores, categorized in tertiles, with CRC risk. RESULTS: The adjusted models for potential confounding factors showed a direct association between milk and dairy products consumption, in particular high-fat cheeses [odds ratio (OR) third tertile first tertile = 1.87, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.11-3.16], and CRC risk. While the consumption of fiber-containing foods, especially whole grains (OR third tertile first tertile = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.39-0.98), and fatty fish (OR third tertile first tertile = 0.53, 95%CI: 0.27-0.99) was associated with a lower risk for CRC. Moreover, higher MD adherence was associated with a reduced CRC risk in adjusted models (OR third tertile first tertile = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.20-0.80). CONCLUSION: Direct associations were found for high-fat cheese, whereas an inverse relation was reported for fiber-containing foods and fatty fish, as well as adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern.
