Maintaining an adequate intake of riboflavin may help reduce risk of lung cancer, according to a new study in Cancer Causes and Control.
Qiuyin Cai from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN and colleagues conducted the study and found an inverse association between dietary riboflavin intake and risk of lung cancer in Chinese women who had never been smokers.
The authors set out to study the relationship between B vitamins and methionine and risk of lung cancer because previous studies were inconsistent regarding their effects on the cancer risk.
The researchers analysed data from 74,410 women who were enrolled in the Shanghai Women's Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study to examine how dietary intakes of B vitamins (i.e., riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin B12) and methionine may affect lung cancer risk among the female never smokers.
During a median 11.2-year follow-up, 428 incidence cases of lung cancer were identified among 71,267 women who had never been smoking at baseline. Intakes of B vitamins were surveyed at baseline through a validated interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire.
Dietary riboflavin intake was found inversely correlated with lung cancer risk. Those in the highest quintile of riboflavin intakes were 38 percent less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, compared with those in the lowest quintile.
Higher than median intake of methionine was also found to be associated with 22 percent lower risk of lung cancer, but there was no dose-response relation between the methionine intake and lung cancer risk.
Other B vitamins were not found associated with lung cancer risk.
The researchers concluded "dietary riboflavin intake may be inversely associated with lung cancer risk among female never smokers, which warrants further investigation."
Lung cancer is diagnosed in more than 200,000 Americans each year and the disease and complications kill more than 100,000 patients each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Lung cancer is in many cases lethal and its prevention is key. Occupational exposure to hazard materials like asbestos, radiation exposure such as radon, and smoking tobacco are considered the major risk factors.
However, a good nutrition status may help prevent the disease. Some dietray factors that may help prevent lung cancer include carotenoids, cruciferous vegetables, vitamin A, curcumin, omega 3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA, and green tea.
