Dietary Nutrient Patterns and Prostate Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study from Iran

Background: Prostate cancer is the second common cancer in the world. Although some associations betweendietary intakes and prostate cancer have been found, the effects of dietary nutrients interactions have not yet evaluated.The aim of this study is to assess the association between nutrient patterns and risk of prostate cancer. Methods andMaterials: Ninety-seven patients with prostate cancer and 205 controls were asked about their demographic and dietaryintakes using validated questionnaires. To extract nutrient patterns, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based on the35 nutrient items were applied. Varimax rotation was used for improving interpretation and minimizing correlationbetween the factors. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI)of prostate cancer by higher scores on the nutrient patterns. Results: High adherence to the “plant source” pattern wasnegatively associated with prostate cancer risk (OR 0.29 for the highest vs. the lowest score tertile; 95% CI= 0.13 – 0.65;P value for trend:<0.003). Similarly, the “antioxidant and fiber” pattern was associated with decreasing risk of prostatecancer (OR 0.06 for the highest vs. the lowest score tertile;95% CI=0.02 – 0.19; P value for trend:<0.001). There wasno significant association for the “mixed” and “vitamin and minerals” pattern with risk of prostate cancer. Conclusion:This study confirms the potential and important role of nutrients on prostate cancer risk. Our finding revealed that“antioxidant and fiber” and “plant source” pattern is inversely associated with prostate cancer risk; however, furtherlongitudinal and trial studies are needed to make a firm conclusion.