[The relationship between intake of vegetables and fruits and colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence]

Evidence for the effect of dietary factors on colorectal carcinogenesis is yet inconsistent. Few studies have been conducted to investigate whether dietary factors were associated with the development of colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence in Korea. We evaluated the relationship between the intake of vegetables and fruits and the degree of dysplasia of the colorectal adenoma and cancer.

For this study, 539 cases with histopathologically confirmed incidental colorectal adenoma, 162 cases with colorectal cancer and 2,576 controls were collected from Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea during 1994-1999. Informations on demographic characteristics, life style habits and dietary intake were obtained by interviewed questionnaire before the colonoscopy. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated by using polytomous logistic regression model.

In female, the high intake of raw green and yellow vegetables were found to be negatively associated with the risk of colorectal cancer (adjusted OR: 0.54, 95% CI = 0.32-0.93) and the high intake of persimmon, mandarin and strawberry among fruits were negatively associated with the risk of adenoma with mild dysplasia (adjusted OR: 0.43, 95% CI = 0.20-0.94). In male, the high intake of banana, pear, apple and watermelon among fruits were negatively associated with the risk of colorectal cancer (adjusted OR: 0.36, 95% CI = 0.16-0.84).

These findings suggest that the intake of vegetables and fruits may act differently in developmental steps of colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence.