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Circulating fatty acids and prostate cancer risk in a nested case–control study: the Multiethnic Cohort

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Abstract

Objective

Dietary fat, including specific fatty acids, has been proposed to contribute to prostate cancer pathogenesis, but findings from the studies based on biomarkers have been conflicting.

Methods

We examined the association between erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition and prostate cancer risk in a nested case–control study within a multiethnic cohort of African Americans, Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, Latinos, and Whites. Analyses included 376 cases and 729 matched controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals with adjustment for multiple covariates.

Results

No significant association was found for saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid, or for specific n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, even when the analysis was limited to advanced or high grade prostate cancer. In ethnic specific analyses, there was a positive association with palmitic acid in Japanese Americans that was significantly different from the null results in other groups. There was also an increased risk with n-3 fatty acids and the ratio of n-3/n-6 fatty acids in Whites.

Conclusion

Although there was a suggestion of ethnic specific associations with some fatty acids, our overall findings do not support a role for fatty acids in prostate carcinogenesis.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute grants P01 CA33619 and R37 CA54281, and by contract N01-PC-35137 from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology Program, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, 1236 Lauhala Street, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Song-Yi Park, Lynne R. Wilkens, Loïc Le Marchand, Marc T. Goodman, Suzanne P. Murphy & Laurence N. Kolonel

  2. Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Susanne M. Henning & Kun Gao

  3. Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Brian E. Henderson

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  1. Song-Yi Park
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  2. Lynne R. Wilkens
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  5. Kun Gao
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  6. Marc T. Goodman
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  7. Suzanne P. Murphy
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  8. Brian E. Henderson
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  9. Laurence N. Kolonel
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Correspondence to Song-Yi Park.

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Park, SY., Wilkens, L.R., Henning, S.M. et al. Circulating fatty acids and prostate cancer risk in a nested case–control study: the Multiethnic Cohort. Cancer Causes Control 20, 211–223 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9236-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9236-4

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