Mgl. Hertog et al., FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION AND CANCER MORTALITY IN THE CAERPHILLY STUDY, Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention, 5(9), 1996, pp. 673-677
We investigated whether the consumption of fruit and vegetables lowere
d cancer mortality in a cohort of 2112 Welsh men ages 45-69 years (The
Caerphilly Study), which was followed-up for 13.8 years. At baseline
(between 1979 and 1983), participants completed a 56-item food frequen
cy questionnaire from which the consumption of fruit and vegetables wa
s calculated. Relative risks (RR) were estimated with Cox proportional
hazard analysis, with death from various types of cancer as a depende
nt variable, and fruit, vegetables, vitamin C, p-carotene, dietary fib
er, and potential confounders as independent variables. Mean consumpti
on of vegetables and fruit at baseline was 118 g/day and 83 g/day, res
pectively. During follow-up 114 men died from cancer, including 51 men
who died from respiratory tract cancer and 45 men who died from diges
tive tract cancer. Fruit consumption and the intake of dietary fiber w
ere inversely related to respiratory tract cancer, but after adjustmen
t for potential confounders including age, smoking, and social class,
the association with fruit consumption became nonsignificant. Vegetabl
e and fruit consumption was, independently from other risk factors, in
versely related to mortality from cancer of the digestive tract (P for
trend = 0.021), mainly due to an inverse association with fruit consu
mption (RR for the highest quartile versus the lowest was 0.3; 95% CI,
0.1-0.8). Vitamin C, beta-carotene, and dietary fiber were not signif
icantly associated with cancers of the digestive tract. Vegetable and
fruit consumption was also inversely related to all-cause cancer morta
lity, and the strongest association was observed for fruit consumption
(RR in the highest versus lowest quartile was 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-1.0).
Consumption of vegetables and particularly the consumption of fruit co
uld considerably lower the risk of dying from cancer in middle-aged me
n.