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. 2012 Apr;64(3):488-92.
doi: 10.1080/01635581.2012.658136. Epub 2012 Mar 16.

Dietary nitrate and nitrite intake and non-Hodgkin lymphoma survival

Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy  1 , Mary H Ward, Tongzhang Zheng, Theodore R Holford, Peter Boyle, Brian Leaderer, Yawei Zhang
Affiliations

Dietary nitrate and nitrite intake and non-Hodgkin lymphoma survival

Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al. Nutr Cancer. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Nitrate and nitrite are precursors in the formation of N-nitroso compounds. We recently found a 40% increased risk of NHL with higher dietary nitrite intake and significant increases in risk for follicular and T-cell lymphoma. It is possible that these compounds also affect NHL prognosis by enhancing cancer progression in addition to development by further impairing immune system function. To test the hypothesis that nitrate and nitrite intake affects NHL survival, we evaluated the association in study participants that have been followed post-disease diagnosis in a population-based case-control study among women in Connecticut. We did not observe a significant increasing trend of mortality for NHL overall or by subtype for nitrate or nitrite intake for deaths from NHL or death from any cause, although a borderline significant protective trend was observed for follicular lymphoma with increasing nitrate intake. We did not identify a difference in overall survival for nitrate (P = 0.39) or for nitrite (P = 0.66) or for NHL specific survival for nitrate (P = 0.96) or nitrite (P = 0.17). Thus, our null findings do not confer support for the possibility that dietary nitrate and nitrite intake impacts NHL survival by promoting immune unresponsiveness.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Kaplan-Meier survival curves plotted by high and low nitrate and nitrite intake for non-Hodgkin lymphoma overall.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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