Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A prospective cohort study on intake of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids and prostate cancer risk (Netherlands)

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

Abstract

Objectives: The roles of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids as risk factors for prostate carcinoma are still questionable. We evaluated these in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Methods: The cohort study consisted of 58,279 men ages 55–69 years at baseline in 1986. After 6.3 years of follow-up, 642 incident prostate carcinoma cases were available for analysis. Intakes of retinol, vitamins C and E, and several carotenoids were measured by means of a 150-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Results: In multivariate analyses a positive association with prostate cancer risk was observed for intake of β-cryptoxanthin. Rate ratios (RRs) in increasing quintiles were 1.00 (ref), 0.94, 1.01, 1.16, 1.41; p-trend <0.01. For intake of retinol, vitamins C and E and other carotenoids (α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene, and lutein/zeaxanthin) no effect on overall prostate cancer risk was found. RRs for vitamin supplement use were decreased, but not significantly. Among nondrinkers, nonsignificant inverse associations were observed for intake of retinol, α-carotene, and β-carotene (RRs, highest vs lowest quintile, were 0.23, 0.60, and 0.76, respectively). Among drinkers, β-cryptoxanthin was positively associated (RR highest vs lowest quintile = 1.40). Conclusions: These data show a positive association between β-cryptoxanthin and prostate cancer risk. Our study also shows inverse associations for retinol, α-carotene, and β-carotene among nondrinkers; this suggests an interaction between vitamins and alcohol consumption, which needs confirmation. Lycopene was not associated with prostate cancer.

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. Steinmetz KA, Potter JD (1991) Vegetables, fruit, and cancer. II. Mechanisms. Cancer Causes Control 2: 427-442.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Steinmetz KA, Potter JD (1996) Vegetables, fruit, and cancer prevention: a review. J Am Diet Assoc 96: 1027-1039.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Heinonen OP, Albanes D, Virtamo J, et al. (1998) Prostate cancer and supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene: incidence and mortality in a controlled trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 90: 440-446.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hennekens CH, Buring JE, Manson JE, et al. (1996) Lack of effect of long-term supplementation with beta carotene on the incidence of malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular disease. NEngl J Med 334: 1145-1149.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Omenn GS, Goodman GE, Thornquist MD, et al. (1996) Risk factors for lung cancer and for intervention effects in CARET, the Beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 88: 1550-1559.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Giles G, Ireland P (1997) Diet, nutrition and prostate cancer. Int J Cancer Suppl 10: 13-17.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kolonel LN (1996) Nutrition and prostate cancer. Cancer Causes Control 7: 83-94.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Giovannucci E, Ascherio A, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC (1995) Intake of carotenoids and retinol in relation to risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 87: 1767-1776.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Nomura AM, Stemmermann GN, Lee J, Craft NE (1997) Serum micronutrients and prostate cancer in Japanese Americans in Hawaii. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 6: 487-491.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kolonel LN, Hankin JH, Yoshizawa CN (1987) Vitamin A and prostate cancer in elderly men: enhancement of risk. Cancer Res 47: 2982-2985.

    Google Scholar 

  11. van den Brandt PA, Goldbohm RA, van't Veer P, Volovics A, Hermus RJ, Sturmans F (1990) A large-scale prospective cohort study on diet and cancer in The Netherlands. J Clin Epidemiol 43: 285-295.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Prentice RL (1986) A case-cohort design for epidemiologic cohort studies and disease prevention trials. Biometrika 73: 1-11.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Self SG, Prentice RL (1988) Asymptotic distribution theory and efficiency results for case-cohort studies. Ann Stat 16: 64-81.

    Google Scholar 

  14. van den Brandt PA, Schouten LJ, Goldbohm RA, Dorant E, Hunen PM (1990) Development of a record linkage protocol for use in the Dutch Cancer Registry for epidemiological research. Int J Epidemiol 19: 553-558.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA, Dorant E (1994) Estimation of the coverage of Dutch municipalities by cancer registries and PALGA based on hospital discharge data. Tijdschr Soc Gezondheidsz 72: 80-84.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA, Brants HAM, et al. (1994) Validation of a dietary questionnaire used in a large-scale prospective cohort study on diet and cancer. Eur J Clin Nutr 48: 253-265.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Voorlichtingsbureau voor de voeding (1986) Nevo table: Dutch Food Composition Table 1986-1987. The Hague.

  18. Goldbohm RA, Brants HAM, Hulshof KFAM, van den Brandt PA (1988) The contribution of various foods to intake of vitamin A and carotenoids in the Netherlands. Int J Vit Nutr Res 68: 378-383.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Schuurman AG, Goldbohm RA, Dorant E, van den Brandt PA (1998) Vegetable and fruit consumption and prostate cancer risk: a cohort study in the Netherlands. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 7: 673-680.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Baker J (1985) GLIM 3.77. Reference Manual. Oxford: Numerical Algorithms Group.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Volovics A, van den Brandt PA (1997) Methods for the analyses of case-cohort studies. Biomet J 2: 195-214.

    Google Scholar 

  22. van den Brandt PA, van't Veer P, Goldbohm RA, et al. (1993) A prospective cohort study on dietary fat and the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Cancer Res 53: 75-82.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Dorant E, van den Brandt PA, Goldbohm RA, Hermus RJ, Sturmans F (1994) Agreement between interview data and a selfadministered questionnaire on dietary supplement use. Eur J Clin Nutr 48: 180-188.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Schuurman AG, Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA (1999) A prospective cohort study on consumption of alcoholic beverages in relation to prostate cancer incidence. Cancer Causes Control 10: 597-605.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Hsing AW, McLaughlin JK, Schuman LM, et al. (1990) Diet, tobacco use, and fatal prostate cancer: results from the Lutheran Brotherhood Cohort Study. Cancer Res 50: 6836-6840.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Shibata A, Paganini Hill A, Ross RK, Henderson BE (1992) Intake of vegetables, fruits, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin supplements and cancer incidence among the elderly: a prospective study. Br J Cancer 66: 673-679.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Eichholzer M, Stahelin HB, Gey KF, Ludin E, Bernasconi F (1996) Prediction of male cancer mortality by plasma levels of interacting vitamins: 17-year follow-up of the prospective Basel study. Int J Cancer 66: 145-150.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Knekt P, Aromaa A, Maatela J, et al. (1990) Serum vitamin A and subsequent risk of cancer: cancer incidence follow-up of the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey. Am J Epidemiol 132: 857-870. Vitamins and carotenoids and prostate cancer risk 581

    Google Scholar 

  29. Coates RJ, Weiss NS, Daling JR, Morris JS, Labbe RF (1988) Serum levels of selenium and retinol and the subsequent risk of cancer. Am J Epidemiol 128: 515-523.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Peleg I, Heyden S, Knowles M, Hames CG (1984) Serum retinol and risk of subsequent cancer: extension of the Evans County, Georgia, study. J Natl Cancer Inst 73: 1455-1458.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gann PH, Ma J, Giovannucci E, et al. (1999) Lower prostate cancer risk in men with elevated plasma lycopene levels: results of a prospective analysis. Cancer Res 59: 1225-1230.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Reichman ME, Hayes RB, Ziegler RG, et al. (1990) Serum vitamin A and subsequent development of prostate cancer in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. Cancer Res 50: 2311-2315.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Hsing AW, Comstock GW, Abbey H, Polk BF (1990) Serologic precursors of cancer. Retinol, carotenoids, and tocopherol and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 82: 941-946.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Criqui MH, Bangdiwala S, Goodman DS, et al. (1991) Selenium, retinol, retinol-binding protein, and uric acid. Associations with cancer mortality in a population-based prospective case-control study. Ann Epidemiol 1: 385-393.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Ghadirian P, Lacroix A, Maisonneuve P, et al. (1996) Nutritional factors and prostate cancer: a case-control study of French Canadians in Montreal, Canada. Cancer Causes Control 7: 428-436.

    Google Scholar 

  36. West DW, Slattery ML, Robison LM, French TK, Mahoney AW (1991) Adult dietary intake and prostate cancer risk in Utah: a case-control study with special emphasis on aggressive tumors. Cancer Causes Control 2: 85-94.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Jain MG, Hislop GT, Howe GR, Ghadirian P (1999) Plant foods, antioxidants, and prostate cancer risk: findings from case-control studies in Canada. Nutr Cancer 34: 173-184.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Graham S, Haughey B, Marshall J, et al. (1983) Diet in the epidemiology of carcinoma of the prostate gland. J Natl Cancer Inst 70: 687-692.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Daviglus ML, Dyer AR, Persky V, et al. (1996) Dietary beta-carotene, vitamin C, and risk of prostate cancer: results from the Western Electric Study. Epidemiology 7: 472-477.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Rohan TE, Howe GR, Burch JD, Jain M (1995) Dietary factors and risk of prostate cancer: a case-control study in Ontario, Canada. Cancer Causes Control 6: 145-154.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Key TJ, Silcocks PB, Davey GK, Appleby PN, Bishop DT (1997) A case-control study of diet and prostate cancer. Br J Cancer 76: 678-687.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Hartman TJ, Albanes D, Pietinen P, et al. (1998) The association between baseline vitamin E, selenium, and prostate cancer in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Prevention Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 7: 335-340.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Comstock GW, Helzlsouer KJ, Bush TL (1991) Prediagnostic serum levels of carotenoids and vitamin E as related to subsequent cancer in Washington County, Maryland. Am J Clin Nutr 53: 260s-264s.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Willett WC, Polk BF, Underwood BA, et al. (1984) Relation of serum vitamins A and E and carotenoids to the risk of cancer. NEngl J Med 310: 430-434.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Clinton SK, Emenhiser C, Schwartz SJ, et al. (1996) Cis-trans lycopene isomers, carotenoids, and retinol in the human prostate. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 5: 823-833.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Patterson RE, Neuhouser ML, White E, Hunt JR, Kristal AR (1998) Cancer-related behavior of vitamin supplement users. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 7: 79-81.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, the, Netherlands

    Agnes G. Schuurman & Piet A. van den Brandt

  2. Department of Consumer Research and Epidemiology, TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, PO Box 360, 3700 AJ, Zeist, the, Netherlands

    R. Alexandra Goldbohm & Henny A. M. Brants

Authors
  1. Agnes G. Schuurman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Alexandra Goldbohm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Henny A. M. Brants
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Piet A. van den Brandt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schuurman, A.G., Goldbohm, R.A., Brants, H.A.M. et al. A prospective cohort study on intake of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids and prostate cancer risk (Netherlands). Cancer Causes Control 13, 573–582 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016332208339

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016332208339

Search

Navigation