Annals of Epidemiology
Volume 19, Issue 7 , Pages 512-518, July 2009

Serum Lycopene and the Risk of Cancer: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) Study

  • Jouni Karppi, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Research Institute of Public Health, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Jouni Karppi, Research Institute of Public Health, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland. Tel.: (358) 40-3552945. Fax: (358) 17-162936.
    • ,
  • Sudhir Kurl, MD

      Affiliations

    • Research Institute of Public Health, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
    • ,
  • Tarja Nurmi, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Research Institute of Public Health, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
    • ,
  • Tiina H. Rissanen, PhD

      Affiliations

    • School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
    • ,
  • Eero Pukkala, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki, Finland
    • ,
  • Kristiina Nyyssönen, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Research Institute of Public Health, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

Received 20 October 2008; accepted 17 March 2009. published online 15 May 2009.

Purpose

Lycopene is thought to decrease the risk of cancers, although previous epidemiologic studies have produced inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effect of lycopene against the risk of cancer.

Methods

The study population consisted of 997 middle-aged Finnish men in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) cohort. During the mean follow-up time of 12.6 years, a total of 141 cancer cases appeared, of which 55 were prostate cancers. The association between the serum concentrations of lycopene and the risk of cancer was studied using the Cox proportional hazard models.

Results

An inverse association was observed between serum lycopene and overall cancer incidence. The adjusted risk ratio (RR) in the highest tertile of serum lycopene was 0.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34–0.89; p=0.015) compared with the lowest serum lycopene group. No association was observed between the lycopene concentrations and a prostate cancer risk. RR for other cancers was 0.43 (95% CI, 0.23–0.79; p=0.007).

Conclusions

These findings suggest that in middle-aged men, the higher circulating concentrations of lycopene may contribute to the lower risk of cancer, with the exception of prostate cancer.

Key Words: Cancer, Population Study, Lycopene, Middle-aged Men

Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms: KIHD, Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (study), ANOVA, analysis of variance, RR, relative risk, CI, confidence interval, FDA, Food and Drug Administration

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PII: S1047-2797(09)00108-2

doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2009.03.017

Annals of Epidemiology
Volume 19, Issue 7 , Pages 512-518, July 2009

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