Intake of total and selected carotenoids and colorectal cancer risk: An Italian case-control study

Colorectal cancer (CRC) risk is influenced by diet. Carotenoids are naturally occurring pigments primarily found in fruits and vegetables. Their potential chemopreventive properties are due to antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antiproliferative characteristics.

We investigated dietary carotenoid intakes (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein+zeaxanthin, and total carotenoids) in relation to CRC risk.

We used data from a case-control study on CRC conducted in Italy, which included 1953 histologically confirmed incident cases of CRC and 4154 controls. For each subject, carotenoid intake was estimated through a reproducible and valid food frequency questionnaire, using an Italian food composition database. Odds ratios (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of CRC for the highest versus the lowest quintiles of carotenoid intakes were computed through multiple logistic regression models, including terms for total energy intake and other selected confounding factors.

The OR of CRC for the highest versus the lowest quintile was 0.72 (95% CI = 0.60-0.87) for α-carotene, 0.60 (95% CI = 0.49-0.73) for β-carotene, 0.83 (95% CI = 0.69-0.99) for β-cryptoxanthin, 0.64 (95% CI = 0.53-0.78) for lutein+zeaxanthin, and 0.59 (95% CI = 0.48-0.73) for total carotenoids, with significant trends across quintiles. No significant association was found for lycopene.

Our findings indicate an inverse association between total and selected carotenoids and CRC risk.