Dietary fatty acids intake and endometrial cancer risk: a dose-response meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

Epidemiological studies have provided controversial evidence of the association between dietary fatty acids intake and endometrial cancer risk. The continuous update project of World Cancer Research Fund failed to focus on this issue. To address this inconsistency, we conducted this dose-response meta-analysis based on epidemiological studies published up to the end of June 2015 identified from PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science. Two authors independently performed the eligibility evaluation and data extraction. Random-effects models were used to estimate summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Fourteen epidemiological studies (4 cohort and 10 case-control studies) were included in this dose-response meta-analysis. The summary RR for an intake increment of 10g/day was 1.02 (95% CI = 0.97-1.08; I2 = 66.0%) for saturated fatty acids, 0.98 (95% CI = 0.96-1.001; I2 = 0%) for monounsaturated fatty acids, and 1.00 (95% CI = 0.95-1.06; I2 = 0%) for polyunsaturated fatty acids intake. Non-significant results were observed in the majority of subgroup analyses stratified by study characteristics and adjustment for potential confounders in analyses of aforementioned associations. In conclusion, results from this dose-response meta-analysis provided limited evidence that dietary saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids consumption was associated with endometrial cancer risk. Further studies, especial prospective designed or pooled studies are warranted to confirm our findings.