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Rye bread consumption in early life and reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer

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Abstract

Objective

To determine whether consumption of whole-grain rye bread, oatmeal, and whole-wheat bread, during different periods of life, is associated with risk of prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods

From 2002 to 2006, 2,268 men, aged 67–96 years, reported their dietary habits in the AGES-Reykjavik cohort study. Dietary habits were assessed for early life, midlife, and current life using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Through linkage to cancer and mortality registers, we retrieved information on PCa diagnosis and mortality through 2009. We used regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) for PCa according to whole-grain consumption, adjusted for possible confounding factors including fish, fish liver oil, meat, and milk intake.

Results

Of the 2,268 men, 347 had or were diagnosed with PCa during follow-up, 63 with advanced disease (stage 3+ or died of PCa). Daily rye bread consumption in adolescence (vs. less than daily) was associated with a decreased risk of PCa diagnosis (OR = 0.76, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.59–0.98) and of advanced PCa (OR = 0.47, 95 % CI: 0.27–0.84). High intake of oatmeal in adolescence (≥5 vs. ≤4 times/week) was not significantly associated with risk of PCa diagnosis (OR = 0.99, 95 % CI: 0.77–1.27) nor advanced PCa (OR = 0.67, 95 % CI: 0.37–1.20). Midlife and late life consumption of rye bread, oatmeal, or whole-wheat bread was not associated with PCa risk.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that rye bread consumption in adolescence may be associated with reduced risk of PCa, particularly advanced disease.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Oddur Benediktsson (1937–2010) and the organization Framför for their support and interest in the study. JET is supported by Framför (Progress), an Icelandic organization that aims to fund research and education initiatives related to prostate cancer, the Icelandic Cancer Society and NordForsk, Nordic Centre of Excellence programme: HELGA: Nordic Health Whole Grain Food. JLK is supported by HELGA, in part by training grant NIH 5 T32 CA09001-36 and by the American Institute for Cancer Research. This study was also funded in part by the National Institute on Aging contract N01-AG-1-2100, in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, the Icelandic Heart Association, and the Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament).

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Stapi v/Hringbraut, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Johanna E. Torfadottir, Unnur A. Valdimarsdottir, Katja Fall, Thor Aspelund & Orn Olafsson

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Unnur A. Valdimarsdottir, Lorelei Mucci, Meir Stampfer, Julie L. Kasperzyk & Hans-Olov Adami

  3. Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lorelei Mucci, Meir Stampfer & Julie L. Kasperzyk

  4. Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

    Katja Fall

  5. The Icelandic Cancer Registry, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Laufey Tryggvadottir & Hrafn Tulinius

  6. Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Tamara B. Harris

  7. Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Eirikur Jonsson

  8. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Hans-Olov Adami

  9. The Icelandic Heart Association, Kópavogur, Iceland

    Thor Aspelund & Vilmundur Gudnason

  10. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Laufey Tryggvadottir, Hrafn Tulinius & Vilmundur Gudnason

  11. Unit for Nutrition Research, Faculty for Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Laufey Steingrimsdottir

Authors
  1. Johanna E. Torfadottir
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  2. Unnur A. Valdimarsdottir
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  3. Lorelei Mucci
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  6. Katja Fall
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  7. Laufey Tryggvadottir
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  15. Laufey Steingrimsdottir
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johanna E. Torfadottir.

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Torfadottir, J.E., Valdimarsdottir, U.A., Mucci, L. et al. Rye bread consumption in early life and reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer. Cancer Causes Control 23, 941–950 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-9965-2

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