Diet and hepatocellular carcinoma: a case-control study in Greece

We conducted a case-control study in Athens, Greece, to investigate the role of diet in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Subjects were 97 incident cases of HCC and 128 controls with no history of cancer admitted for minor ailments in three major hospitals. Information on diet was collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and infection with hepatitis virus B (HBV) or C (HCV) was assessed using third-generation assays. Data were modeled through multiple logistic regression. We found no evidence that vegetable intake may reduce the risk of HCC, as reported in earlier investigations. In a multivariate model, only consumption of milk and dairy products appeared to be inversely related to HCC risk (odds ratio = 0.70, 95% confidence interval = 0.49-1.01), but the association was not statistically significant and is likely to have been generated by the multiple comparisons undertaken overall. Our data do not support an association of specific food groups or particular nutrients with the risk of HCC, whether positive or negative for HBV and/or HCV.