Long-term dietary acrylamide intake and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in a prospective cohort of Swedish women.

BACKGROUND

Acrylamide, a probable human carcinogen, can be formed in carbohydrate-rich foods cooked at high temperatures. Whether dietary acrylamide intake is associated with the risk of cancer in humans is uncertain. We aimed to assess the relation between dietary acrylamide intake and the incidence of epithelial ovarian cancer.

METHODS

The Swedish Mammography Cohort is a population-based prospective study of 61,057 Swedish women. Diet was assessed with a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline in 1987-1990 and again in 1997.

RESULTS

During a mean follow-up of 17.5 years, we ascertained 368 incident cases of ovarian cancer. We observed no association between acrylamide intake and the risk of ovarian cancer. Compared with the lowest quartile of acrylamide intake (mean intake, 16.9 microg/day), the multivariable rate ratios for the highest quartile (mean intake, 32.5 microg/day) were 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.63-1.16) for total ovarian cancer and 1.05 (95% confidence interval, 0.68-1.63) for serous ovarian cancer (n=182 cases).

CONCLUSIONS

The results from this prospective study provide no evidence that dietary acrylamide in amounts typically consumed by Swedish women is associated with the risk of ovarian cancer.