Skip to main content
Log in

A prospective study of diet and prostate cancer in Japanese men

  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aims. It has been hypothesized that some aspect of a traditional ‘Asian’ diet, that is low in animal products and high in soya, may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. This study aimed to examine the association between dietary intake and prostate cancer risk among 18,115 men in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, using prospective data from the Life Span Study. Methods: Subjects completed a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline (1963, 1965 and/or 1979) and were followed for incident prostate cancer until the end of 1996. During this time, 196 incident prostate cancer cases were identified after 252,602 person-years of observation. Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rates for each dietary factor after adjustment for age, calendar period, city of residence, radiation dose and education level. Results: Fish intake was significantly associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer; men who consumed fish more than four times per week had a 54 increased risk of developing prostate cancer compared with men who ate fish less than twice per week (RR=1.54; 95 CI, 1.03–2.31). No other food items, including soya products, were significantly associated with prostate cancer risk. Conclusions: These data suggest that dietary factors may not be strong determinants of prostate cancer in these Japanese men, although the increased risk associated with a high consumption of fish warrants further study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • DM Parkin SL Whelan J Ferlay L Teppo DB Thomas (2002) Cancer incidence in five continents IARC Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  • N Breslow CW Chan G Dhom et al. (1977) ArticleTitleLatent carcinoma of prostate of autopsy in seven areas Int J Cancer 20 680–688

    Google Scholar 

  • K Uchida T Shimazui M Ohtani et al. (1993) ArticleTitleHistopathological comparison of stage A prostatic adenocarcinoma in Japan and the United States Jap J Urol 84 1119–1126

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferlay J, Bray F, Pisani P, Parkin DM (2001) Globocan 2000: Cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide, version 1.0. http://www-dep.iarc.fr/globocan/globocan.html (accessed June 2003).

  • LN Kolonel (2001) ArticleTitleFat, meat, and prostate cancer Epidemiol Revs 23 72–81

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameWorld Cancer Research Fund (1997) Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective American Institute for Cancer Research Washington DC USA

    Google Scholar 

  • JR Hebert TG Hurley BC Olendzki J Teas Y Ma JS Hampl (1998) ArticleTitleNutritional and socioeconomic factors in relation to prostate cancer mortality: a cross-national study J Natl Cancer Inst 90 1637–1647

    Google Scholar 

  • DB Fournier JWJ Erdman GB Gordon (1998) ArticleTitleSoy, its components, and cancer prevention: a review of the in vitro, animal, and human data Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 7 1055–1065

    Google Scholar 

  • A Bylund JX Zhang A Bergh et al. (2000) ArticleTitleRye bran and soy protein delay growth and increase apoptosis of human LNCaP prostate adenocarcinoma in nude mice Prostate 42 304–314

    Google Scholar 

  • M Landstrom JX Zhang G Hallmans et al. (1998) ArticleTitleInhibitory effects of soy and rye diets on the development of Dunning R3327 prostate adenocarcinoma in rats Prostate 36 151–161

    Google Scholar 

  • BK Jacobsen SF Knutsen GE Fraser (1998) ArticleTitleDoes high soy milk intake reduce prostate cancer incidence? The Adventist Health Study (United States) Cancer Causes Control 9 553–557

    Google Scholar 

  • MM Lee RT Wang AW Hsing FL Gu T Wang M Spitz (1998) ArticleTitleCase–control study of diet and prostate cancer in China Cancer Causes Control 9 545–552

    Google Scholar 

  • RK Severson AM Nomura JS Grove GN Stemmermann (1989) ArticleTitleA prospective study of demographics, diet, and prostate cancer among men of Japanese ancestry in Hawaii Cancer Res 49 1857–1860

    Google Scholar 

  • DL Preston H Kato K Kopecky S Fujita (1987) ArticleTitleStudies of the mortality of A–bomb survivors. 8. Cancer mortality, 1950–1982 Radiat Res 111 151–178

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameRERF (1978) Mail questionnaire survey for epidemiologic data on the Life Span Study extended sample, 1978. Report No. RP 14–78 Radiation Effects Research Foundation Hiroshima

    Google Scholar 

  • C Sauvaget NE Allen M Hayashi E Spencer J Nagano (2002) ArticleTitleValidation of a food frequency questionnaire in the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Life Span Study J Epidemiol 12 394–401

    Google Scholar 

  • WC Roesch (1987) US–Japan joint reassessment of atomic bomb radiation dosimetry in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Final Report, Vol 1. Radiation Effects Research Foundation Hiroshima

    Google Scholar 

  • K Mabuchi M Soda E Ron et al. (1994) ArticleTitleCancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors. Part I: Use of the tumor registries in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for incidence studies Radiat Res 137 S1–S16

    Google Scholar 

  • R Sposto DL Preston (1992) Correcting for Catchment Area Non-residency in Studies based on Tumor-registry-based Cohort Studies Radiation Effects Research Foundation Hiroshima, Japan

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2003) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org.

  • AW Hsing JK McLaughlin LM Schuman et al. (1990) ArticleTitleDiet, tobacco use, and fatal prostate cancer: results from the Lutheran Brotherhood Cohort Study Cancer Res 50 6836–6840

    Google Scholar 

  • TJ Key PB Silcocks GK Davey PN Appleby DT Bishop (1997) ArticleTitleA case–control study of diet and prostate cancer Br J Cancer 76 678–687

    Google Scholar 

  • AG Schuurman PA Brandt Particlevan den E Dorant RA Goldbohm (1999) ArticleTitleAnimal products, calcium and protein and prostate cancer risk in The Netherlands Cohort Study Br J Cancer 80 1107–1113

    Google Scholar 

  • P Terry P Lichtenstein M Feychting A Ahlbom A Wolk (2001) ArticleTitleFatty fish consumption and risk of prostate cancer Lancet 357 1764–1766

    Google Scholar 

  • K Augustsson DS Michaud EB Rimm et al. (2003) ArticleTitleA prospective study of intake of fish and marine fatty acids and prostate cancer Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 12 64–67

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1997) Review of the state of world aquaculture. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 886 FIRI/C886 (Rev.1) FAO Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameInternational Agency for Research on Cancer (1993) IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Vol. 58. Beryllium, Cadmium, Mercury, and Exposures in the Glass Manufacturing Industry IARC Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  • SS Strom Y Yamamura CM Duphorne et al. (1999) ArticleTitlePhytoestrogen intake and prostate cancer: a case–control study using a new database Nutr Cancer 33 20–25

    Google Scholar 

  • MM Lee S Lin Gomez JS Chang M Wey RT Wang AW Hsing (2003) ArticleTitleSoy and isoflavone consumption in relation to prostate cancer risk in China Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 12 665–668

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameThe Research Group for Population-based Cancer Registration in Japan (2001) ArticleTitleCancer incidence and incidence rates in Japan in 1996: Estimates based on data from 10 population-based cancer registries Jap J Clinical Oncol 31 410–414

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation (2001) World Health Statistics Annual, WHO Mortality Database. http://www.who.int/whosis (accessed June 2003).

  • Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research (2001) Cancer statistics in Japan http://www.ncc.go.jp/en/statistics/2001/ tables.html (accessed June 2003).

  • C Sauvaget J Nagano M Hayashi E Spencer Y Shimizu NE Allen (2003) ArticleTitleVegetables and fruit intake and cancer mortality in the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Life Span Study Br J Cancer 88 689–694

    Google Scholar 

  • C Sauvaget J Nagano NE Allen E Grant V Beral (2003) ArticleTitleIntake of animal products and stroke mortality in the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Life Span Study Int J Epidemiol 32 536–543

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew W. Roddam.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Allen, N.E., Sauvaget, C., Roddam, A.W. et al. A prospective study of diet and prostate cancer in Japanese men. Cancer Causes Control 15, 911–920 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-004-1683-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-004-1683-y

Keywords

Navigation