Dietary intake of fruit and vegetable and lung cancer risk: a case-control study in Harbin, northeast China

Abstract

Background: We studied the relationship between dietary intake of vegetables and fruit and lung cancer risk in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, northeast China, an area with a very high baseline risk of lung cancer in both sexes.

Patients and methods: We used data from a case-control study, conducted from 1987 to 1990, among 218 cases with incident, histologically confirmed lung cancer and 436 controls admitted to the same hospitals as cases with non-neoplastic, non-lung diseases unrelated to smoking and other potential risk factors for lung cancer.

Results: Compared with the lowest tertile of intake of vegetables, fruit or both, the multivariate odds ratios (ORs) for the highest tertile of intake were 0.39 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25-0.62], 0.73 (95% CI 0.48-1.11) and 0.40 (95% CI 0.25-0.63), respectively. In particular, high intake of Chinese cabbage (OR = 0.53), chives (OR = 0 .54), carrots (OR = 0.51) and celery (OR = 0.40) was inversely associated with lung cancer. The OR was more than six-fold elevated for smokers reporting low intake of vegetables, and more than four-fold elevated for smokers reporting low intake of fruit, as compared with never smokers reporting high intake of these items.

Conclusion: In agreement with previous studies, we found an inverse relation between vegetable and fruit intake and lung cancer risk in both strata of current and never smokers.