The association of dietary β-carotene and vitamin A intake on the risk of esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

dietary β-carotene and vitamin A intake have shown some potential effect in the development of esophageal cancer. This meta-analysis was performed to investigate the association of β-carotene and vitamin A intake on the risk of esophageal cancer.

METHODS

the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Wanfang Med online databases were systematically searched to collect the relevant articles regarding the impact of β-carotene and vitamin A intake on esophageal cancer risk. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were combined using the Review Manager Version 5.3 software.

RESULTS

this meta-analysis included 14 articles. The highest category of β-carotene intake may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer compared with the lowest category (OR = 0.62, 95 % CI = 0.50-0.77). Similar significant results were found in American and European populations but not in other populations with β-carotene intake. An inverse association was found between vitamin A intake and esophageal cancer risk (OR = 0.79, 95 % CI = 0.63-0.99). No potential publication bias was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

our study suggested that dietary β-carotene and vitamin A intake may reduce the risk of esophageal cancer. More relevant studies are needed to further explore this association, as there were some limitations in our analysis.