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The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Carlos A Gonzalez
Carlos A Gonzalez*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO), Av. Gran Via s/n, km 2.7, 08907 L'Hospitalet, Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: E-mail cagonzalez@ico.scs.es
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Abstract

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Objective

To describe the main finding produced so far by the EPIC project, which aims to improve the scientific knowledge of nutritional factors involved in cancer.

Design and setting

Prospective cohort study in 23 centres from 10 European countries. Dietary assessment method varied by countries: in some cases a diet history by personal interview was carried out, while in most countries a self-administered semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire was used; in one case the questionnaire was combined with a food record. Information on a wide range of lifestyle factors and anthropometric measurements were also collected for most participants.

Subjects

The cohort includes 521 468 men and women mostly aged between 39 and 69 years, whereas blood samples are available for 387 889 subjects.

Results

To date 24 185 cancer cases have been identified in the follow-up of the cohort. The publications produced by each centre can be consulted on the EPIC website (http://www.iarc.fr/epic/). Among initial findings concerning the associations between cancer and dietary factors, one of the most important results is a protective effect of high fibre intake and fish consumption against colorectal cancer, while high red and processed meat intake increase the risk. Regarding lung cancer the first analyses found a protective effect of fruit intake but no association with vegetable consumption. No association was observed between vegetables and fruit intake and the risk of prostate cancer or breast cancer. Finally, data from Cambridge point to an interesting result regarding breast cancer: no association was observed with saturated fat intake measured by food-frequency questionnaire, but according to the food diary a daily intake of 35 g doubles the risk of breast cancer compared to women with daily intake of 10 g or less.

Keywords

NutritionProspective studiesCancer researchDietary assessment methodsColorectal cancerLung cancerBreast cancer
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 1a , February 2006 , pp. 124 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2006

References

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