Dietary Intake of Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Risk of Colorectal Cancer.

Cancer Prev Res (Phila)
Authors
Abstract

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) are essential amino acids, and emerging evidence suggests that BCAAs may mediate pathways related to cancer progression, possibly due to their involvement in insulin metabolism. We investigated the association between dietary intake of BCAAs with colorectal cancer risk in three prospective cohorts: the Nurses' Health Study I [(NHS), number of participants () at baseline = 77,017], NHS II ( = 92,984), and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study [(HPFS) = 47,255]. Validated food frequency questionnaires were administered every 4 years and follow-up questionnaires on lifestyle biennially. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Pooled HRs were obtained using random effect models. After up to 28 years of follow-up, 1,660 cases were observed in NHS, 306 in NHS II, and 1,343 in HPFS. In multivariable adjusted models, we observed a weak inverse association between BCAA intake and colorectal cancer [highest vs. lowest quintile, pooled HR including all three cohorts (95% CI): 0.89 (0.80-1.00), = 0.06, HR per standard deviation (SD) increment 0.95 (0.92-0.99)]. However, after including dairy calcium to the models, BCAA intake was no longer associated with risk of colorectal cancer [HR 0.96 (0.85-1.08), = 0.50, HR per SD increment 0.97 (0.93-1.01)]. We did not find evidence that higher dietary BCAA intake is associated with higher risk of colorectal cancer. As this is the first prospective study to examine the association between BCAA intake and colorectal cancer, our findings warrant investigation in other cohorts.

Year of Publication
2020
Journal
Cancer Prev Res (Phila)
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
65-72
Date Published
2020 Jan
ISSN
1940-6215
DOI
10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-19-0297
PubMed ID
31699705
PubMed Central ID
PMC6954300
Links
Grant list
R35 CA197735 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
UM1 CA176726 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
U01 CA167552 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA137178 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
K24 DK098311 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
UM1 CA186107 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
K07 CA188126 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R00 CA207736 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
P50 CA127003 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R21 CA222940 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R21 CA230873 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
P01 CA087969 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
P01 CA055075 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA151993 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States