Are food patterns associated with prostate cancer in Jamaican men: a preliminary report

Background Morbidity and mortality data highlight prostate cancer as the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm in Jamaican males. This report examines the association between dietary patterns and risk of prostate cancer in Jamaican men. Materials and methods Case-control study of 204 histologically confirmed newly diagnosed prostate cancer cases and 204 individually matched urology clinic controls in Jamaica, 2004 – 2007. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Results Factor analysis yielded four dietary patterns: (i) a "healthy" pattern of vegetables, fruits and peas and beans, (ii) a "carbohydrate" pattern with high loadings for white bread and refined cereals, (iii) "sugary foods and sweet baked products" pattern and (iv) a "organ meat and fast food pattern" with high loadings for high fat dessert, organ meat, fast food and salty snacks. Logistic regressions with the individual dietary patterns controlling for potential confounders showed no association between any of the food patterns and risk of prostate cancer. The healthy pattern showed an inverse non-significant association, whereas the carbohydrate pattern was positively and insignificantly related to prostate cancer. Analysis of all food patterns adjusting for each other revealed no association between food patterns and the risk of prostate cancer. Conclusion Dietary patterns identified in our sample were not associated with risk of prostate cancer. Further investigations that better define cancer-free subjects and dietary measurements are needed to examine diet and prostate cancer outcomes.