1. ¹Center for Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 6009 Medical Center East, 1215 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37232-8300, USA
2. ²Currently a doctoral student at the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
3. ³Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Cancer Institute, #25 2200 Xie Tu Road, Shanghai 200032, People's Republic of China

Correspondence: Dr XO Shu, E-mail: xiao-ou.shu@vanderbilt.edu

Received 20 January 2005; Revised 30 March 2005; Accepted 1 April 2005; Published online 10 May 2005.

Abstract

In a population-based case–control study of 832 incident endometrial cancer cases and 846 frequency-matched controls among Chinese women in Shanghai, using a validated food-frequency questionnaire, dietary habits were estimated by in-person interviews. Total vegetable consumption was inversely associated with endometrial cancer risk (highest quartile vs lowest: OR=0.69, 95% CI 0.50–0.96). The risk was reduced with increasing intake of dark green/dark yellow vegetables (trend test, P=0.02), fresh legumes (trend test, P<0.01), and allium vegetables (trend test, P=0.04). Fruit consumption was unrelated to risk. These results suggest that high consumption of certain vegetables may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer.