IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-024-55219-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Keren Papier

    (University of Oxford)

  • Kathryn E. Bradbury

    (The University of Auckland)

  • Angela Balkwill

    (University of Oxford)

  • Isobel Barnes

    (University of Oxford)

  • Karl Smith-Byrne

    (University of Oxford)

  • Marc J. Gunter

    (Imperial College London
    International Agency for Research on Cancer)

  • Sonja I. Berndt

    (National Institutes of Health)

  • Loic Marchand

    (University of Hawaii Cancer Center)

  • Anna H. Wu

    (Department of Population and Public Health Sciences)

  • Ulrike Peters

    (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center)

  • Valerie Beral

    (University of Oxford)

  • Timothy J. Key

    (University of Oxford)

  • Gillian K. Reeves

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

Uncertainty remains regarding the role of diet in colorectal cancer development. We examined associations of 97 dietary factors with colorectal cancer risk in 542,778 Million Women Study participants (12,251 incident cases over 16.6 years), and conducted a targeted genetic analysis in the ColoRectal Transdisciplinary Study, Colon Cancer Family Registry, and Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO). Alcohol (relative risk per 20 g/day=1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.09-1.20) and calcium (per 300 mg/day=0.83, 0.77–0.89) intakes had the strongest associations, followed by six dairy-related factors associated with calcium. We showed a positive association with red and processed meat intake and weaker inverse associations with breakfast cereal, fruit, wholegrains, carbohydrates, fibre, total sugars, folate, and vitamin C. Genetically predicted milk consumption was inversely associated with risk of colorectal, colon, and rectal cancers. We conclude that dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer, and that this is driven largely or wholly by calcium.

Suggested Citation

  • Keren Papier & Kathryn E. Bradbury & Angela Balkwill & Isobel Barnes & Karl Smith-Byrne & Marc J. Gunter & Sonja I. Berndt & Loic Marchand & Anna H. Wu & Ulrike Peters & Valerie Beral & Timothy J. Key, 2025. "Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55219-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55219-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55219-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-55219-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nikos Papadimitriou & Georgios Markozannes & Afroditi Kanellopoulou & Elena Critselis & Sumayah Alhardan & Vaia Karafousia & John C. Kasimis & Chrysavgi Katsaraki & Areti Papadopoulou & Maria Zografou, 2021. "An umbrella review of the evidence associating diet and cancer risk at 11 anatomical sites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Benjamin B. Sun & Joseph C. Maranville & James E. Peters & David Stacey & James R. Staley & James Blackshaw & Stephen Burgess & Tao Jiang & Ellie Paige & Praveen Surendran & Clare Oliver-Williams & Mi, 2018. "Genomic atlas of the human plasma proteome," Nature, Nature, vol. 558(7708), pages 73-79, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Parsa Akbari & Dragana Vuckovic & Luca Stefanucci & Tao Jiang & Kousik Kundu & Roman Kreuzhuber & Erik L. Bao & Janine H. Collins & Kate Downes & Luigi Grassi & Jose A. Guerrero & Stephen Kaptoge & Ju, 2023. "A genome-wide association study of blood cell morphology identifies cellular proteins implicated in disease aetiology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Elena V. Feofanova & Michael R. Brown & Taryn Alkis & Astrid M. Manuel & Xihao Li & Usman A. Tahir & Zilin Li & Kevin M. Mendez & Rachel S. Kelly & Qibin Qi & Han Chen & Martin G. Larson & Rozenn N. L, 2023. "Whole-Genome Sequencing Analysis of Human Metabolome in Multi-Ethnic Populations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Danni A. Gadd & Robert F. Hillary & Daniel L. McCartney & Liu Shi & Aleks Stolicyn & Neil A. Robertson & Rosie M. Walker & Robert I. McGeachan & Archie Campbell & Shen Xueyi & Miruna C. Barbu & Claire, 2022. "Integrated methylome and phenome study of the circulating proteome reveals markers pertinent to brain health," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Magdalena Zimoń & Yunfeng Huang & Anthi Trasta & Aliaksandr Halavatyi & Jimmy Z. Liu & Chia-Yen Chen & Peter Blattmann & Bernd Klaus & Christopher D. Whelan & David Sexton & Sally John & Wolfgang Hube, 2021. "Pairwise effects between lipid GWAS genes modulate lipid plasma levels and cellular uptake," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Yuki Ishikawa & Nao Tanaka & Yoshihide Asano & Masanari Kodera & Yuichiro Shirai & Mitsuteru Akahoshi & Minoru Hasegawa & Takashi Matsushita & Kazuyoshi Saito & Sei-ichiro Motegi & Hajime Yoshifuji & , 2024. "GWAS for systemic sclerosis identifies six novel susceptibility loci including one in the Fcγ receptor region," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Saedis Saevarsdottir & Kristbjörg Bjarnadottir & Thorsteinn Markusson & Jonas Berglund & Thorunn A. Olafsdottir & Gisli H. Halldorsson & Gudrun Rutsdottir & Kristbjorg Gunnarsdottir & Asgeir Orn Arnth, 2024. "Start codon variant in LAG3 is associated with decreased LAG-3 expression and increased risk of autoimmune thyroid disease," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Hamzeh M. Tanha & Dale R. Nyholt, 2022. "Genetic analyses identify pleiotropy and causality for blood proteins and highlight Wnt/β-catenin signalling in migraine," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Molly Went & Laura Duran-Lozano & Gisli H. Halldorsson & Andrea Gunnell & Nerea Ugidos-Damboriena & Philip Law & Ludvig Ekdahl & Amit Sud & Gudmar Thorleifsson & Malte Thodberg & Thorunn Olafsdottir &, 2024. "Deciphering the genetics and mechanisms of predisposition to multiple myeloma," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. João Botelho & Paulo Mascarenhas & João Viana & Luís Proença & Marco Orlandi & Yago Leira & Leandro Chambrone & José João Mendes & Vanessa Machado, 2022. "An umbrella review of the evidence linking oral health and systemic noncommunicable diseases," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Kadir Buyukcelebi & Alexander J. Duval & Fatih Abdula & Hoda Elkafas & Fidan Seker-Polat & Mazhar Adli, 2024. "Integrating leiomyoma genetics, epigenomics, and single-cell transcriptomics reveals causal genetic variants, genes, and cell types," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Jia You & Yu Guo & Yi Zhang & Ju-Jiao Kang & Lin-Bo Wang & Jian-Feng Feng & Wei Cheng & Jin-Tai Yu, 2023. "Plasma proteomic profiles predict individual future health risk," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Alexander Gudjonsson & Valborg Gudmundsdottir & Gisli T. Axelsson & Elias F. Gudmundsson & Brynjolfur G. Jonsson & Lenore J. Launer & John R. Lamb & Lori L. Jennings & Thor Aspelund & Valur Emilsson &, 2022. "A genome-wide association study of serum proteins reveals shared loci with common diseases," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Ashley Budu-Aggrey & Anna Kilanowski & Maria K. Sobczyk & Suyash S. Shringarpure & Ruth Mitchell & Kadri Reis & Anu Reigo & Reedik Mägi & Mari Nelis & Nao Tanaka & Ben M. Brumpton & Laurent F. Thomas , 2023. "European and multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of atopic dermatitis highlights importance of systemic immune regulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Anders Mälarstig & Felix Grassmann & Leo Dahl & Marios Dimitriou & Dianna McLeod & Marike Gabrielson & Karl Smith-Byrne & Cecilia E. Thomas & Tzu-Hsuan Huang & Simon K. G. Forsberg & Per Eriksson & Mi, 2023. "Evaluation of circulating plasma proteins in breast cancer using Mendelian randomisation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    15. Yihao Lu & Meritxell Oliva & Brandon L. Pierce & Jin Liu & Lin S. Chen, 2024. "Integrative cross-omics and cross-context analysis elucidates molecular links underlying genetic effects on complex traits," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Marta Alcalde-Herraiz & JunQing Xie & Danielle Newby & Clara Prats & Dipender Gill & María Gordillo-Marañón & Daniel Prieto-Alhambra & Martí Català & Albert Prats-Uribe, 2024. "Effect of genetically predicted sclerostin on cardiovascular biomarkers, risk factors, and disease outcomes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    17. Ye Liu & Anqi Gao & Tiantian Wang & Yongqian Zhang & Gaoxiang Zhu & Sida Ling & Zhaozhao Wu & Yuhong Jin & Haoke Chen & Yuming Lai & Rui Zhang & Yuchen Yang & Jianyong Han & Yulin Deng & Yanan Du, 2025. "Growing meat on autoclaved vegetables with biomimetic stiffness and micro-patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Grace Png & Andrei Barysenka & Linda Repetto & Pau Navarro & Xia Shen & Maik Pietzner & Eleanor Wheeler & Nicholas J. Wareham & Claudia Langenberg & Emmanouil Tsafantakis & Maria Karaleftheri & George, 2021. "Mapping the serum proteome to neurological diseases using whole genome sequencing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Valur Emilsson & Elias F. Gudmundsson & Thorarinn Jonmundsson & Brynjolfur G. Jonsson & Michael Twarog & Valborg Gudmundsdottir & Zhiguang Li & Nancy Finkel & Stephen Poor & Xin Liu & Robert Esterberg, 2022. "A proteogenomic signature of age-related macular degeneration in blood," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. David Stacey & Lingyan Chen & Paulina J. Stanczyk & Joanna M. M. Howson & Amy M. Mason & Stephen Burgess & Stephen MacDonald & Jonathan Langdown & Harriett McKinney & Kate Downes & Neda Farahi & James, 2022. "Elucidating mechanisms of genetic cross-disease associations at the PROCR vascular disease locus," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55219-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.