Folate Linked to Lower Colorectal Cancer Risk
Lee Swanson Research Update
Increased intakes of folate from the diet may reduce a woman’s risk of colorectal cancer by about 50%, according to new findings from Korea.
The highest intakes of folate, a B-vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, chick peas and lentils, were associated with a 66% and 70% reduction in a woman’s risk of cancers of the colon and rectum, respectively, researchers reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (EJCN).
However, men did not benefit from the vitamin, said the researchers from the Cancer Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea.
The study adds to an ever-growing body of case-control and prospective cohort studies reporting that increased intakes of folate may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 40% to 60%.
Over 30 case-control and prospective cohort studies have reported colorectal cancer risk reduction associated with the vitamin. Similar risk reductions have also been reported for the lesion that precedes the cancer, the adenomatous polyp.
The Korean researchers analyzed data obtained from 596 men and women with colorectal cancer, and compared this to data from 509 people free of the disease. All the participants were between 30 and 79 years old.
According to the EJCN report, the overall data showed that the highest levels of folate intake were linked to a 53%, 58% and 52% reduced risk of colorectal, colon and rectal cancer, respectively for all the people studied.
However, when the researchers focused on the sex of the participants, only women were found to benefit, with the highest levels of folate intake linked to a 64%, 66% and 70% reduced risk of colorectal, colon and rectal cancer, respectively.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Published online ahead of print.