NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 21 - Diets high in saturated fat appear to increase the risk of small intestine carcinoid tumors, according to a report in the November 15th issue of Cancer Research.
"Identifying modifiable risk factors for cancer of the small intestine is important not only because the incidence of this cancer is on the rise, but it may enable us to further understand other gastrointestinal malignancies," lead author Dr. Amanda J. Cross, from the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, said in a statement.
Findings from several studies have linked consumption of red and processed meats with colon cancer, but the association with small intestine cancer has received relatively little attention and has not been examined in a prospective study.
Using data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the research team examined dietary associations with small intestine cancer in half a million men and women. Food frequency questionnaires were used to gauge meat and fat intake and the subjects were followed for up to 8 years for cancer.
During follow-up, 60 patients developed adenocarcinomas and 80 developed carcinoid tumors.
No statistically significant association between red or processed meat intake and small intestine malignancies was seen, the authors report.
Saturated fat intake, on the other hand, was positively associated with the development of carcinoid tumors. Relative to the lowest tertile of intake, the highest tertile conferred a 3.18-fold increased risk of carcinoid tumors.
"The associations identified in this study should be considered exploratory and need to be further investigated in a study with a larger number of cases by pooling existing studies with relevant data," the authors conclude.
Cancer Res 2008;68:9274-9279.
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