Abstract B133: Choline intake and the risk of colorectal cancer in men: The Health Professionals Follow-up Study Free

Choline has been hypothesized to decrease the risk of cancer because of its role as a methyl-donor in one-carbon pathway. However, it is unknown whether dietary choline intake is associated with colorectal cancer risk.

We prospectively examined the associations between dietary choline intake and risk of colorectal cancer in men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. We followed 47,281 men and identified a total of 987 incident colorectal cancer cases from 1986 to 2004. We assessed dietary intake every four years using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate multivariate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided.

We found no statistically significant associations between total dietary choline intake and risk of colorectal cancer. Compared the highest with the lowest quintiles, multivariate RRs (95% CI) were 0.98 (0.79-1.22; P for trend = 0.92) for total dietary choline intake. Similarly, we observed no associations for choline intake from individual choline-containing sources, including free choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine, phosphatidylcholine, and sphingomyelin. Also, no association for total dietary choline was observed among either participants who consumed alcohol (≥15 g/d) or low folate (<250 mcg/d).

Our data do not support the hypothesis that choline intake is inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk.

Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):B133.