Dietary Inflammatory Index and Ovarian Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Existing evidence suggests diet and chronic inflammation as risk factors in ovarian cancer (OC) development. We aim to conduct a meta-analysis exploring possible associations between dietary inflammatory potential and OC. A systematic search was conducted through PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and PMC databases for studies reporting relationships between dietary inflammatory potential and OC risk published up to September 2020. We included six studies for stepwise analysis, of which 5,468 among 197,086 individuals developed OC. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by fixed-effects models, while heterogeneity was assessed by Q test and I² statistic. The results revealed a positive association between dietary inflammatory potential measured by the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and OC(P < 0.05). Individuals with higher DII scores had a 42% increased risk of OC incidence [OR = 1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19-1.65]. The analysis considering DII as a continuous variable showed an increased risk of 10% for 1-point increase of DII(OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.06-1.14). Subgroup analysis revealed that increased risk of OC in individuals with higher DII scores vs. those with lower DII was only significant among post-menopausal women(OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.26-2.21) rather than those pre/peri-menopausal(OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.63-1.79). Pro-inflammatory diets with higher DII score were significantly related to increased OC risk among post-menopausal women.