1. ¹Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
2. ²Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland
3. ³Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA

Correspondence: Dominique Michaud, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Blvd, EPS/320 MSC 7232, Bethesda, MD 20892-7232, USA; E-mail: michaudd@mail.nih.gov

Received 29 July 2002; Revised 16 August 2002; Accepted 22 August 2002.

Abstract

We examined the relation between dietary fruit and vegetables, carotenoids and vitamin intakes and the risk of bladder cancer among male smokers in a prospective cohort study. Over a median of 11 years, we followed 27 111 male smokers aged 50–69 years who were initially enrolled in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. During this period, 344 men developed bladder cancer. All of these men had completed a 276-food item dietary questionnaire at baseline. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the relative risks and 95% confidence intervals and to simultaneously adjust for age, smoking history, energy intake and intervention group. Consumption of fruits and vegetables was not associated with the risk of bladder cancer (relative risk=1.28; 95% confidence intervals CI: 0.89–1.84, for highest vs lowest quintile). Similarly, no associations were observed for groups of fruits or vegetables (berries and cruciferous vegetables), or for specific fruits and vegetables. Dietary intakes of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, vitamins A, E, and C, and folate were not related to the risk of bladder cancer. These findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intakes are not likely to be associated with bladder cancer risk. However, these results may not be generalisable to non-smokers.