A case-control study of diet and prostate cancer

Abstract

Purpose: Dietary factors have been suggested as having a major role in the etiology of prostate cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in the dietary factors between younger and older men with prostate cancer. Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted in two towns of Serbia without provinces. The case group consisted of 101 patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer and the control group of 202 hospital patients with no neoplastic disorders (for each case two controls were chosen). Cases and controls were individualy matched by age (± 2 years), time of hospital admission and place of residence. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods were used for result anlayses. Results: After adjustment for a variety of confounding variables, a significant relationship between prostate cancer and vitamin B 12 (odds ratio - OR = 4.77; 95% confidence interval - 95% C.I. = 1.74-13.07) and potassium (OR = 0.18; 95% C.I. = 0.07-0.49) was found in men ≤ 70 years old. In men > 70 years old daily intake of retinol and atocopherol were independently significantly related to prostate cancer (OR = 3.20; 95% C.I. = 1.38-7.43 and OR = 0.42; 95% C.I. = 0.18-0.99, respectively). Conclusion: Differences between younger and older men in the dietary factors related to prostate cancer (retinol and a-tocopherol) are in line with the existing literature data. The relationship of prostate cancer with vitamin B12 and potassium should be corroborated by other authors.