Dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of renal cell, bladder, and prostate cancer

Acrylamide, a probable human carcinogen, was recently detected in various heat-treated carbohydrate-rich foods. Epidemiologic studies on the relation with cancer have been few and largely negative.

We aimed to prospectively examine the association between dietary acrylamide intake and renal cell, bladder, and prostate cancers.

The Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer includes 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 y. At baseline (1986), a random subcohort of 5000 participants was selected for a case-cohort analysis approach using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Acrylamide intake was assessed with a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline and was based on chemical analysis of all relevant Dutch foods.

After 13.3 y of follow-up, 339, 1210, and 2246 cases of renal cell, bladder, and prostate cancer, respectively, were available for analysis. Compared with the lowest quintile of acrylamide intake (mean intake: 9.5 microg/d), multivariable-adjusted hazard rates for renal cell, bladder, and prostate cancer in the highest quintile (mean intake: 40.8 microg/d) were 1.59 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.30; P for trend = 0.04), 0.91 (95% CI: 0.73, 1.15; P for trend = 0.60), and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.30; P for trend = 0.69), respectively. There was an inverse nonsignificant trend for advanced prostate cancer in never smokers.

We found some indications for a positive association between dietary acrylamide and renal cell cancer risk. There were no positive associations with bladder and prostate cancer risk.