Forskning

May 6, 2025

Dietary polyphenol intake and risk of overall and site-specific cancers: The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study

M Kishino et al, 2025. Dietary polyphenol intake and risk of overall and site-specific cancers: The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, Journal of Nutrition.

ABSTRACT:

Background: Polyphenols may play a protective role in carcinogenesis through a wide range of properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. However, evidence for the association between total dietary polyphenol intake and cancer risk in Asian populations is limited.

Objective: This population-based prospective study aimed to investigate the association between polyphenol intake and risk of overall and site-specific cancer among Japanese.

Methods: Participants were 41,907 men and 48,268 women aged 45-74 years with no previous cancer diagnosis in the Japan Public Health Center-based (JPHC) Prospective Study. Dietary polyphenol intake was estimated by a 147-item food frequency questionnaire administered in 1995-1998. Participants were divided into quintiles (Q) according to intakes of total polyphenol and polyphenol from foods not including high-polyphenolic beverages (tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cancer risk were estimated using Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: During a median of 15.8 years of follow-up, 12,970 incident cancer cases (7,999 men and 4,971 women) were identified. We did not observe associations of lower risk of overall cancer with polyphenol intake. For site-specific cancers, as compared with the lowest quintile (Q1), higher total polyphenol intake was associated with a lower risk of liver cancer in men (HR_Q4=0.67, 95% CI=0.51-0.89; HR_Q5=0.66, 95% CI=0.48-0.89, p-trend=0.003) and women (HR_Q5=0.63, 95% CI=0.39-1.02, p-trend=0.003), while higher polyphenol intake from foods not including tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages was associated with a lower risk of colon cancer in men (HR_Q4=0.73, 95% CI=0.58-0.92; HR_Q5=0.72, 95% CI=0.54-0.96, p-trend=0.07).

Conclusions: The results of the present study do not support a substantial role for dietary polyphenols in overall cancer prevention. Total polyphenol may reduce the risk of liver cancer, and polyphenol from foods not including tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages may reduce the risk of colon cancer.