AVERAGE INTAKE OF ANTIOXIDANT (PRO)VITAMINS AND SUBSEQUENT CANCER MORTALITY IN THE 16 COHORTS OF THE 7-COUNTRIES STUDY

This ecologic study aimed to investigate whether differences in popula tion mortality from lung, stomach and colorectal cancer among the 16 c ohorts of the Seven Countries Study could be explained by differences in the average intake of anti-oxidant (pro)vitamins. In the 1960s, det ailed dietary information was collected in small sub-samples of the co horts by the dietary record method. In 1987, food-equivalent composite s representing the average food intake of each cohort at baseline were collected locally and analyzed in a central laboratory. The vital sta tus of all participants was verified after 25 years of follow-up. The average intake of vitamin C was strongly inversely related to the 25-y ear stomach-cancer mortality (r = -0.66, p = 0.01), also after adjustm ent for smoking and intake of salt or nitrate. The average intake of a lpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and alpha-tocopherol were not independen tly related to mortality from lung, stomach or colorectal cancer, nor was vitamin C related to lung and colorectal cancer. (C) 1995 Wiley-Li ss, Inc.