CONTEXT

Dietary factors have been associated with the risk of developing colon cancer but the influence of diet on patients with established disease is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the association of dietary patterns with cancer recurrences and mortality of colon cancer survivors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Prospective observational study of 1009 patients with stage III colon cancer who were enrolled in a randomized adjuvant chemotherapy trial (CALGB 89803) between April 1999 and May 2001. Patients reported on dietary intake using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire during and 6 months after adjuvant chemotherapy. We identified 2 major dietary patterns, prudent and Western, by factor analysis. The prudent pattern was characterized by high intakes of fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish; the Western pattern was characterized by high intakes of meat, fat, refined grains, and dessert. Patients were followed up for cancer recurrence or death.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Disease-free survival, recurrence-free survival, and overall survival by dietary pattern.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 5.3 years for the overall cohort, 324 patients had cancer recurrence, 223 patients died with cancer recurrence, and 28 died without documented cancer recurrence. A higher intake of a Western dietary pattern after cancer diagnosis was associated with a significantly worse disease-free survival (colon cancer recurrences or death). Compared with patients in the lowest quintile of Western dietary pattern, those in the highest quintile experienced an adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) for disease-free survival of 3.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.04-5.19; P for trend <.001). The Western dietary pattern was associated with a similar detriment in recurrence-free survival (AHR, 2.85; 95% CI, 1.75-4.63) and overall survival (AHR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.36-3.96]), comparing highest to lowest quintiles (both with P for trend <.001). The reduction in disease-free survival with a Western dietary pattern was not significantly modified by sex, age, nodal stage, body mass index, physical activity level, baseline performance status, or treatment group. In contrast, the prudent dietary pattern was not significantly associated with cancer recurrence or mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher intake of a Western dietary pattern may be associated with a higher risk of recurrence and mortality among patients with stage III colon cancer treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Further studies are needed to delineate which components of such a diet show the strongest association.