Kentaro Inamura, Yan Shi, Kana Wu, Tsuyoshi Hamada, Mingyang Song, Zhi Rong Qian, Andrew T. Chan, Yin Cao, Fred K. Tabung, Shuji Ogino, Katsuhiko Nosho, Xuehong Zhang, Molin Wang, David A. Drew, Charles S. Fuchs, Annacarolina da Silva, Keisuke Kosumi, Kosuke Mima, Reiko Nishihara, Edward Giovannucci, Wanwan Li, Daniel Nevo, Paul Lochhead, Li Liu, Jonathan A. Nowak, Tyler S. Twombly, Mancang Gu, Wendy S. Garrett, and Yohei Masugi
Background & Aims Dietary patterns affect systemic and local intestinal inflammation, which have been linked to colorectal carcinogenesis. Chronic inflammation can interfere with the adaptive immune response. We investigated whether the association of a diet that promotes intestinal inflammation with risk of colorectal carcinoma was stronger for tumors with lower lymphocytic reactions than tumors with higher lymphocytic reactions. Methods We collected data from the molecular pathological epidemiology databases of 2 prospective cohort studies: the Nurses' Health Study (since 1976) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (since 1986). We used duplication-method time-varying Cox proportional cause-specific hazards regression to assess the association of empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) score (derived from food frequency questionnaire data) with colorectal carcinoma subtype. Foods that contribute to high EDIP scores include red and processed meats, refined grains, carbonated beverages, and some vegetables; foods that contribute to low EDIP scores include beer, wine, coffee, tea, yellow and leafy vegetables, and fruit juice. Colorectal tissue samples were analyzed histologically for patterns of lymphocytic reactions (Crohn's-like lymphoid reaction, peritumoral lymphocytic reaction, intratumoral periglandular reaction, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes). Results During follow-up of 124,433 participants, we documented 1311 incident colon and rectal cancer cases with available tissue data. The association between the EDIP and colorectal cancer risk was significant ( P trend = .02), and varied with degree of peritumoral lymphocytic reaction ( P heterogeneity P trend P trend > .80). Conclusions In 2 prospective cohort studies, we associated inflammatory diets with a higher risk of colorectal cancer subtype that contains little or no peritumoral lymphocytic reaction. These findings suggest that diet-related inflammation might contribute to development of colorectal cancer, by suppressing the adaptive anti-tumor immune response.