Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Diet and risk of adult leukemia: a multicenter case–control study in China

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Epidemiologic studies on diet and leukemia risk have shown inconsistent results. This study examined the associations between dietary factors and the risk of adult leukemia in Chinese populations.

Methods

A multicenter case–control study was conducted in southeast and northeast China between 2008 and 2013. It included 442 incident cases with hematologically confirmed leukemia and 442 controls, individually match to cases by gender, birth quinquennium, and study site. Information on diet was sought from face-to-face interviews using a validated and reliable 103-item food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by conditional logistic regression.

Results

Vegetables intake was associated with decreased risk of adult leukemia, with a significant dose–response relationship and adjusted OR of 0.30 (95 % CI 0.18–0.50) for the highest versus the lowest quartiles intake. Compared with non-consumers, the adjusted OR was 0.51 (95 % CI 0.29–0.93) for those who consumed milk at the highest tertile. Intakes of fruits, red meat, poultry, and fish were not associated with the risk. Dietary nutrients, including dietary fiber, carotenoids, vitamins B1, B2, and C, niacin, and folate, were significantly associated with reduced risks. Elevated risk was related to dietary intake animal fat and dietary habits with frequent intakes of fat, deep-fried, and smoked foods ( p for trend <0.05).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that diets rich in vegetables and adequate amount of milk reduce the risk of adult leukemia, whereas diets preferring fat, deep-fried, and smoked foods increase the risk in Chinese populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A (2013) Cancer statistics, 2013. CA Cancer J Clin 63:11–30

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M et al (2013) GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.0, cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 11. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. http://globocan.iarc.fr. Accessed 13 April 2014

  3. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2002) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking, vol 83. WHO, Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  4. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2012) IARC monographs on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals, vol 100F. WHO, Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  5. Smith MT, Zhang L, McHale CM, Skibola CF, Rappaport SM (2011) Benzene, the exposome and future investigations of leukemia etiology. Chem Biol Interact 192:155–159

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Kwiatkowski A (1993) Dietary and other environmental risk factors in acute leukaemias: a case–control study of 119 patients. Eur J Cancer Prev 2:139–146

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Fritschi L, Ambrosini GL, Kliewer EV, Johnson KC, Canadian Cancer Registries Epidemiologic Research Group (2004) Dietary fish intake and risk of leukaemia, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13:532–537

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kasim K, Levallois P, Abdous B, Auger P, Johnson KC (2005) Lifestyle factors and the risk of adult leukemia in Canada. Cancer Causes Control 16:489–500

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hu J, La Vecchia C, DesMeules M, Negri E, Mery L, Meat and fish consumption and cancer in Canada (2008) Meat and fish consumption and cancer in Canada. Nutr Cancer 60:313–324

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. De Stefani E, Ronco AL, Deneo-Pellegrini H et al (2013) Meat, milk and risk of lymphoid malignancies: a case–control study in Uruguay. Nutr Cancer 65:375–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Li Y, Moysich KB, Baer MR et al (2006) Intakes of selected food groups and beverages and adult acute myeloid leukemia. Leuk Res 30:1507–1515

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Yamamura Y, Oum R, Elhor Gbito KY, Garcia-Manero G, Strom SS (2013) Dietary intake of vegetables, fruits, and meats/beans as potential risk factors of acute myeloid leukemia: a Texas case–control study. Nutr Cancer 65:1132–1140

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ross JA, Kasum CM, Davies SM, Jacobs DR, Folsom AR, Potter JD (2002) Diet and risk of leukemia in the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 11:777–781

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ma X, Park Y, Mayne ST et al (2010) Diet, lifestyle, and acute myeloid leukemia in the NIH-AARP cohort. Am J Epidemiol 171:312–322

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kabat GC, Wu JW, Moore SC et al (2013) Lifestyle and dietary factors in relation to risk of chronic myeloid leukemia in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 22:848–854

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Saberi Hosnijeh F, Peeters P, Romieu I et al (2014) Dietary intakes and risk of lymphoid and myeloid leukemia in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Nutr Cancer 66:14–28

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Daniel CR, Cross AJ, Graubard BI, Hollenbeck AR, Park Y, Sinha R (2011) Prospective investigation of poultry and fish intake in relation to cancer risk. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 4:1903–1911

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cross AJ, Leitzmann MF, Gail MH et al (2007) A prospective study of red and processed meat intake in relation to cancer risk. PLoS Med 4:e325

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Willett WC (1994) Diet and health: What should we eat? Science 264:532–537

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhang ZN, Shen D (2007) The standards of diagnosis and treatment in haematology. Science Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  21. Li L, Zhang M, Holman D (2011) Population versus hospital controls for case–control studies on cancers in Chinese hospitals. BMC Med Res Methodol 11:167

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Li L, Zhang M, Holman CD (2013) Hospital outpatients are satisfactory for case–control studies on cancer and diet in China: a comparison of population versus hospital controls. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 14:2723–2729

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Li L, Zhang M, Holman CD (2013) Population versus hospital controls in the assessment of dietary intake of isoflavone for case–control studies on cancers in China. Nutr Cancer 65:390–397

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Ji BT, Chow WH, Yang G et al (1998) Dietary habits and stomach cancer in Shanghai, China. Int J Cancer 76:659–664

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Thompson FE, Byers T (1994) Dietary assessment resource manual. J Nutr 124:2245S–2317S

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Hankin JH, Wilkens LR, Kolonel LN, Yoshizawa CN (1991) Validation of a quantitative diet history method in Hawaii. Am J Epidemiol 133:616–628

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. National Health Survey Summary of Results (1995) Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4364.01995

  28. Jian L, Binns CW, Lee AH (2006) Validity of a food-frequency questionnaire for elderly men in southeast China. Public Health Nutr 9:928–933

  29. Zhang M, Binns CW, Lee AH (2005) A quantitative food frequency questionnaire for women in southeast China: development and reproducibility. Asia Pac J Public Health 17:29–35

  30. Shu XO, Yang G, Jin F et al (2004) Validity and reproducibility of the food frequency questionnaire used in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 58:17–23

  31. Zhang M (2002) Dietary factors and lifestyle characteristics in the aetiology of ovarian cancer: a case–control study in China. Dissertation, Curtin University of Technology

  32. National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, China CDC (2009) China Food Composition Book 1, 2nd edn. Peking University Medical Press, Beijing

  33. Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, China CDC (2002) China Food Composition 2002, Book 1. Peking University Medical Press, Beijing

  34. Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, China CDC (2005) China Food Composition 2004, Book 2. Peking University Medical Press, Beijing

  35. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2013) USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 26. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page. http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl. Accessed 18 Dec 2013

  36. Willett W (1998) Nutritional epidemiology, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York

  37. Larsson SC, Wolk A (2008) Overweight and obesity and incidence of leukemia: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. Int J Cancer 122:1418–1421

  38. Gorini G, Stagnaro E, Fontana V et al (2007) Alcohol consumption and risk of leukemia: a multicenter case–control study. Leuk Res 31:379–386

  39. Ji J, Sundquist J, Sundquist K (2014) Alcohol consumption has a protective effect against hematological malignancies: a population-based study in Sweden including 420,489 individuals with alcohol use disorders. Neoplasia 16:229-e1–234-e1

  40. Chen D, Daniel KG, Chen MS, Kuhn DJ, Landis-Piwowar KR, Dou QP (2005) Dietary flavonoids as proteasome inhibitors and apoptosis inducers in human leukemia cells. Biochem Pharmacol 69:1421–1432

  41. Ettorre A, Frosali S, Andreassi M, Di Stefano A (2010) Lycopene phytocomplex, but not pure lycopene, is able to trigger apoptosis and improve the efficacy of photodynamic therapy in HL60 human leukemia cells. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 235:1114–1125

  42. Key TJ (2011) Fruit and vegetables and cancer risk. Br J Cancer 104:6–11

  43. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2010) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Ingested nitrate and nitrite and cyanobacterial peptide toxins, vol 94. WHO, Lyon

  44. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2010) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Household use of solid fuels and high-temperature frying, vol 95. WHO, Lyon

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the study participants and staff from the participating hospitals for their support. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Project Grant (ID 572542). The first author was supported by the Scholarship for International Research Fees and the University Postgraduate Award of The University of Western Australia.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, M431, 135 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Ping Liu, C. D’Arcy J. Holman & Min Zhang

  2. Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University College of Medicine, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, 310003, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Jie Jin

  3. Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Level 6 75 Talavera Road, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Min Zhang

Authors
  1. Ping Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. D’Arcy J. Holman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jie Jin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Min Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Min Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, P., Holman, C.D.J., Jin, J. et al. Diet and risk of adult leukemia: a multicenter case–control study in China. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1141–1151 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0608-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0608-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation