Is Dietary Acrylamide Intake Associated With the Development of Prostate Cancer?
Posted: Thursday, June 3, 2021
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies the chemical acrylamide as a “probably human carcinogen.” According to the American Cancer Society, it can form naturally from chemical reactions in certain starchy foods after cooking at high temperatures. Using data from a population-based prospective cohort study, Shoichiro Tsugane, MD, of the National Cancer Center, Tokyo, and colleagues analyzed the potential relationship between acrylamide intake and the risk of developing prostate cancer in an Asian population. Their findings were published in the journal Nutrients.
“The results of this study are consistent with those of previous studies analyzing dietary acrylamide intake, suggesting there is no association between dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of prostate cancer,” the investigators commented. “[They also] provide important evidence for examining the safety of acrylamide intake in Asia.”
In a study conducted by the Japan Public Health Center, 140,420 Japanese men and women were provided a lifestyle questionnaire. A follow-up food frequency questionnaire was administered 5 years later to assess dietary acrylamide intake. The investigators adapted the 5-year survey as the starting point of the present study; data from 41,534 eligible men were analyzed for prostate cancer risk.
Over a median follow-up of 15.2 years, a total of 1,195 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed. The multivariate hazard ratio for the highest quintile of acrylamide intake was 0.96 compared with the lowest quintile (P trend = .726). In the stratified analyses, no significant associations were observed based on smoking status. Thus, dietary acrylamide intake did not appear to be associated with the risk of developing prostate cancer; according to the investigators, this finding also seemed to hold true for renal cell and bladder cancers.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
