Associations of Dietary Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load and Carbohydrate with the Risk of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Cervical Cancer: A Case-Control Study

Dietary intake and cancer incidence in Korean adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Cancer is a major health burden in Korea, and dietary factors have been suggested as putative risk factors for cancer development at various sites. This study systematically reviewed the published literature investigating the associations between dietary factors and cancer incidence among Korean adults, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses guidelines. We focused on the 5 most studied cancer sites (stomach, colorectum, breast, thyroid, and cervix) as outcomes and dietary exposures with evidence levels greater than limited-suggestive according to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) panel's judgment for any of the cancer sites. This resulted in the inclusion of 72 studies. Pooled estimates of the impact of dietary factors on cancer risk suggested protective associations of fruits and vegetables with risks for gastric cancer (GC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and breast cancer (BC) and dietary vitamin C with the risk of GC, as well as a harmful association between fermented soy products and the risk of GC. Despite the limited number of studies, we observed consistent protective associations of dietary fiber with GC and dietary fiber, coffee, and calcium with CRC. These findings are largely consistent with the WCRF/AICR expert report. However, pooled estimates for the associations of other salt-preserved foods with GC, meat with CRC, and dietary carotenoids and dairy products with BC did not reach statistical significance. Further studies with prospective designs, larger sample sizes, and diverse types of dietary factors and cancer sites are necessary.

Dietary Approach of Patients with Hormone-Related Cancer Based on the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Estimates

Hormone-related cancers, namely breast, endometrial, cervical, prostate, testicular, and thyroid, constitute a specific group of cancers dependent on hormone levels that play an essential role in cancer growth. In addition to the traditional risk factors, diet seems to be an important environmental factor that partially explains the steadily increased prevalence of this group of cancer. The composition of food, the dietary patterns, the endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and the way of food processing and preparation related to dietary advanced glycation end-product formation are all related to cancer. However, it remains unclear which specific dietary components mediate this relationship. Carbohydrates seem to be a risk factor for cancer in general and hormone-related cancers, in particular, with a difference between simple and complex carbohydrates. Glycemic index and glycemic load estimates reflect the effect of dietary carbohydrates on postprandial glucose concentrations. Several studies have investigated the relationship between the dietary glycemic index and glycemic load estimates with the natural course of cancer and, more specifically, hormone-related cancers. High glycemic index and glycemic load diets are associated with cancer development and worse prognosis, partially explained by the adverse effects on insulin metabolism, causing hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, and also by inflammation and oxidative stress induction. Herein, we review the existing data on the effect of diets focusing on the glycemic index and glycemic load estimates on hormone-related cancers.

Effect of air pollution on the prevalence of breast and cervical cancer in China: a panel data regression analysis

The association between the prevalence of breast and cervical cancer in Chinese women and air pollution is obscure. The study aims to analyze the correlation between air pollution and the prevalence of breast and cervical cancer, and whether the gross domestic product (GDP) has a modifying effect on the impact of air pollution on the prevalence of breast and cervical cancer. Extracting panel data from 31 provinces and cities between 2006 and 2020, we evaluated the association between breast and cervical cancer prevalence and pollutant emissions from 2006 to 2015 with two-way fixed-effect models. We also analyzed the interaction between GDP and pollutant emissions and further check the robustness of the moderating effect results using group regression from 2016 to 2020. Cluster robust standard errors were used to correct for the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The coefficients of models show that the coefficients of logarithmic soot and dust emissions are estimated to be significantly positive, and the coefficients of their square terms are significantly negative. The robust results suggest that the relationship between soot and dust emissions and breast or cervical cancer prevalence is non-linear, from 2006 to 2015. In the analysis of particulate matter (PM) data in 2016-2020, the PM-GDP interaction term was also significantly negative, indicating that GDP growth weakened the effect of PM on the prevalence of breast cancer and cervical cancer. In provinces with higher GDP, the indirect effect of PM emissions concerning breast cancer is -0.396 while in provinces with lower GDP, it is about -0.215. The corresponding coefficient concerning cervical cancer is about -0.209 in provinces with higher GDP but not significant in provinces with lower GDP. Our results suggest that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the prevalence of breast cancer and cervical cancer and air pollutants from 2006 to 2015. GDP growth has a significant negative moderating effect on the impact of air pollutants on the prevalence of breast cancer and cervical cancer. PM emissions have a higher effect on the prevalence of breast and cervical cancer in provinces with higher GDP and a lower impact in provinces with lower GDP.

Associations of Dietary Intakes with Gynecological Cancers: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Gynecological cancers, including cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer are leading causes of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Diet plays an important role in cancer development, which is widely accepted. However, the associations between dietary intakes and gynecological cancers remain unclear. Methods: A total of 12,437 women aged over 20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted from 2007−2016, were included in this study. The relationships between 30 dietary factors (4 macronutrients, 15 vitamins, 9 minerals, caffeine and alcohol) and gynecological cancers were assessed. Results: We observed negative correlations of intakes of phosphorus (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.998 (0.996, 0.999), p = 0.002) with cervical cancer, and intakes of vitamin B12 (0.812 (0.714, 0.925), p = 0.002), phosphorus (0.997 (0.996, 0.999), p < 0.001) and alcohol (0.971 (0.950, 0.992), p = 0.009) with endometrial cancer. The data showed positive associations of intake of caffeine (1.002 (1.001, 1.003), p = 0.003) with cervical cancer, and intake of copper (2.754 (1.313, 5.778), p = 0.009) with endometrial cancer. In addition, we found potential negative correlations between intake of vitamin B1 (p = 0.025) and cervical cancer; zinc (p = 0.048) and ovarian cancer; and potassium (p = 0.032) and endometrial cancer. Potential positive associations were found between intake of calcium and cervical cancer (p = 0.026) and endometrial cancer (p = 0.034), and between sodium (p = 0.042) and endometrial cancer. Intakes of protein, total sugars, total fat, cholesterol, vitamin A, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, food folate, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, iron and selenium showed no relationship with gynecological cancers (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Specific dietary factors were associated with gynecological cancers. More epidemiological studies are needed to validate our results.

Blood glucose levels and the risk of HPV multiple infections in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions: A retrospective cross-sectional study of Chinese patients

Besides the controversy of the association of high glycemic index and glycemic load with precancerous cervical lesions, only a few studies have examined the impact of fasting blood glucose levels on human papillomavirus (HPV) multiple infections. In the present study, we appraised the relationship between blood glucose levels and multiple HPV infections in a population of HPV-positive women with cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). The present study was designed as a cross-sectional correlative analysis. A total of 560 participants with a pathologically confirmed HSIL with HPV infection were included from a hospital in China during January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019. The target variables and the outcome variables were the glucose levels at the baseline and HPV multiplicity, respectively. The odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the risk of multiple infections via logistic regression analysis. The average age of the 560 participants was 44.63 ± 10.61 years; the nonlinear relationship was detected between the glucose levels and multiplicity of HPV, with an inflection point at 5.4. After adjusting for the full range of variables, the effect sizes and confidence intervals for the left and right sides of the inflection points were found to be 0.379 (0.196-0.732) and 5.083 (1.592-16.229), respectively. In this cross-sectional study, both high and low blood glucose levels increased the risk of multiple HPV infections, demonstrating a U-shaped relationship between the blood glucose levels and multiple HPV infections.

Beneficial Diets and Pancreatic Cancer: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Practice

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant tumor with high invasiveness, easy metastatic ability, and chemoresistance. Patients with PC have an extremely low survival rate due to the difficulty in early diagnosis. It is estimated that nearly 90% of PC cases are caused by environmental risk factors. Approximately 50% of PC cases are induced by an unhealthy diet, which can be avoided. Given this large attribution to diet, numerous studies have assessed the relationship between various dietary factors and PC. This article reviews three beneficial diets: a ketogenic diet (KD), a Mediterranean diet (MD), and a low-sugar diet. Their composition and impact mechanism are summarized and discussed. The associations between these three diets and PC were analyzed, and we aimed to provide more help and new insights for the prevention and treatment of PC.