Dietary factors and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer

Dietary factors in the etiology of ovarian cancer were investigated with the use of data from a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy on 455 histologically confirmed epithelial carcinomas and 1,385 control subjects in the hospital for acute conditions unrelated to any of the known or potential risk factors for cancer of the ovary. Women with ovarian cancer reported significantly elevated frequency of consumption of meat [relative risk (RR) = 1.6 for greater than or equal to 7 vs. less than 4 portions/wk], ham (RR = 1.9 for greater than or equal to 4 vs. less than 2 portions/wk), and higher subjective scores of fat intake (RR = 2.1 for highest vs. lowest scores), particularly butter. In contrast, consumptions of fish, green vegetables, carrots, and wholemeal bread or pasta were less frequent in cases; the corresponding risk estimates for highest versus lowest frequencies ranged between 0.6 and 0.8. These results were not materially modified by adjustment for indicators of socioeconomic status, parity, and other identified determinants of ovarian cancer. No relation emerged between alcohol consumption and ovarian cancer risk. The present study provides interesting indications that help to explain the considerable variations in ovarian cancer rates in different populations and, if confirmed, could, in principle, have important public health implications. Due caution, however, is required in interpreting the present results because of the limitations of available information and of the uncertainties of other published material concerning diet and ovarian cancer.