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Dietary betaine and choline intake are not associated with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 111–114 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Evidence suggests that nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism are implicated in ovarian cancer etiology. No studies have evaluated the role of choline, and that of its metabolite, betaine. We prospectively examined the relationship between the intake of these nutrients and ovarian cancer risk among 159 957 participants from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHSII. The average nutrient intake was assessed every 2–4 years beginning in 1984 (for NHS) and in 1991 (for NHSII). With up to 22 years of follow-up per cohort, 526 incident cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed. There were no associations between total choline, betaine, as well as choline plus betaine intake and ovarian cancer risk (for example, relative risk, top vs bottom quintile of choline=0.98; 95% confidence interval: 0.73–1.31; Ptrend=0.81). Results did not vary by alcohol consumption, folate intake or after the exclusion of cases diagnosed during the 4-year period after dietary assessment. These data provide little evidence for a role of these nutrients in ovarian cancer etiology.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the NHS and NHSII participants for their dedication to these studies and their contribution to this research. This research was supported by Research Grants P01 CA87969, R01 CA50385, and P50 CA105009 from the National Cancer Institute. JK is a Research Fellow of the Canadian Cancer Society supported through an award from the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    J Kotsopoulos, S E Hankinson & S S Tworoger

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    S E Hankinson & S S Tworoger

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  1. J Kotsopoulos
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  2. S E Hankinson
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  3. S S Tworoger
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Correspondence to J Kotsopoulos.

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Kotsopoulos, J., Hankinson, S. & Tworoger, S. Dietary betaine and choline intake are not associated with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 111–114 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.109

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.109

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