Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 9:9:896330.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.896330. eCollection 2022.

Diet as a Risk Factor for Early-Onset Colorectal Adenoma and Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Kaitlin L Carroll  1 , Andrew D Frugé  1 , Martin J Heslin  2 , Elizabeth A Lipke  3 , Michael W Greene  1
Affiliations

Diet as a Risk Factor for Early-Onset Colorectal Adenoma and Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Kaitlin L Carroll et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer in adults 50 years old and younger is increasing in incidence worldwide. Diet may be a modifiable risk factor. The objective of this study was to examine evidence regarding the association between diet and the risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) and early-onset colorectal adenomas in young adults.

Methods: PUBMED, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically searched for studies examining dietary intake as a risk factor for EOCRC and early-onset colorectal adenomas. Results were synthesized narratively due to the heterogeneity of the studies.

Results: Of the 415 studies identified, ten met the inclusion criteria. Of these ten studies, four provided data on dietary risk factors for early-onset colorectal adenomas and six provided data on dietary risk factors for EOCRC. The four studies that measured colorectal adenoma occurrence reported an increased incidence with high sugar sweetened beverage intake, a higher pro-inflammatory diet, a higher Western diet score and higher sulfur microbial diet score. A protective effect against early-onset colorectal adenomas was observed in those who had a higher Prudent diet score or higher adherence to other health dietary approaches (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010, or the alternative Mediterranean diet). Those who consumed large amounts of deep-fried foods, refined foods, followed a high fat diet, consumed large amounts of sugary drinks and desserts, and had low folate and fiber consumption had a significantly higher occurrence of EOCRC. A protective effect against EOCRC was observed for those who consumed more fruits and vegetables, high amounts of micronutrients and those who adhered to a vegetarian diet.

Conclusions: The results of this study reveal various dietary habits may be risk factors or protective against early-onset colorectal cancer and adenomas. Future research should focus on large prospective cohort studies with long-term follow-up to confirm published results and further examine whether differences in diet quality are associated with EOCRC risk.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; diet; dietary habits; early-onset; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, et al. . Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. (2021) 71:209–49. 10.3322/caac.21660 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arnold M, Sierra MS, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F. Global patterns and trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Gut. (2017) 66:683–91. 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-310912 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saad El Din K, Loree JM, Sayre EC, Gill S, Brown CJ, Dau H, et al. . Trends in the epidemiology of young-onset colorectal cancer: a worldwide systematic review. BMC Cancer. (2020) 20:288. 10.1186/s12885-020-06766-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Goding Sauer A, Fedewa SA, Butterly LF, Anderson JC, et al. . Colorectal cancer statistics, 2020. CA Cancer J Clin. (2020) 70:145–64. 10.3322/caac.21601 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Venugopal A, Stoffel EM. Colorectal cancer in young adults. Curr Treat Options Gastroenterol. (2019) 17:89–98. 10.1007/s11938-019-00219-4 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types