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Intake of heterocyclic aromatic amines and the risk of prostate cancer in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort

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Abstract

Background

Heterocyclic amines (HCA) are positively associated with prostate cancer risk in animal models. Because of mostly inconsistent results of epidemiological studies, we examined the association between intake of HCA and prostate cancer risk.

Methods

In the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort, detailed information on diet, anthropometry, and lifestyle was assessed between 1994 and 1998. Dietary HCA intake was estimated using information on meat consumption, cooking methods, and preferred degree of browning. During 104,195 person-years of follow-up, 337 incident cases of prostate cancer (123 advanced cases) were identified among 9,578 men with valid dietary information. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the association between intake of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), and 2-amino-3,4,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx) and prostate cancer.

Results

Men in the highest quartiles of PhIP, MeIQx, and DiMeIQx intake, respectively, had no increased risk of prostate cancer compared with men in the lowest quartiles (HR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.66–1.22 [PhIP]; 1.06, 0.77–1.45 [MeIQx]; 0.98, 0.72–1.34 [DiMeIQx]). There were no associations between HCA intake and advanced prostate cancer or between high consumption of strongly browned meat and prostate cancer.

Discussion

Our data do not support the hypothesis that HCA intake as consumed in a regular diet is a risk factor for prostate cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by Kurt-Eberhard-Bode-Foundation and ECNIS (Environmental Cancer Risk, Nutrition and Individual Susceptibility), a Network of Excellence of the European Commission (Contract No 513943).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

    Anja Sander, Jakob Linseisen & Sabine Rohrmann

  2. Department of Mathematics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Anja Sander

  3. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre Munich, Munich, Germany

    Jakob Linseisen

  4. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sabine Rohrmann

Authors
  1. Anja Sander
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  2. Jakob Linseisen
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  3. Sabine Rohrmann
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Correspondence to Sabine Rohrmann.

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Sander, A., Linseisen, J. & Rohrmann, S. Intake of heterocyclic aromatic amines and the risk of prostate cancer in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort. Cancer Causes Control 22, 109–114 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9680-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9680-9

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