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Case-control study of diet and mesothelioma in Louisiana.

1988; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 48; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

Mark Schiffman, Linda W. Pickle, Elizabeth T. H. Fontham, Shelia Hoar Zahm, Roni T. Falk, Joy Mele, Pelayo Correa, Joseph F. Fraumeni,

Occupational and environmental lung diseases

Data were analyzed from a case-control interview study of malignant mesothelioma in Louisiana, which gathered information on usual diet and on lifetime occupational exposure to asbestos. Thirty-seven patients with malignant mesothelioma of the pleura (n = 32) or peritoneum (n = 5) were matched to controls according to age, sex, race, and factors related to case ascertainment (hospital and date of diagnosis, or parish and date of death). Twenty-one of the 37 cases were judged by masked occupational review to have been exposed to asbestos (57%), compared to seven of 37 controls (19%). Seven additional cases and 10 additional controls had occupational histories suggestive of asbestos exposure. With regard to usual diet before illness, cases reported less frequent consumption of homegrown produce (p = 0.005), cruciferous vegetables (p = 0.005), and all vegetables combined (p = 0.09) than did the controls. An estimate of usual carotene intake was also significantly lower in cases (p = 0.03). Dose-dependent reductions in risk were seen with increasing consumption of vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables (p for trend = 0.013). These associations were not explained by differences in asbestos exposure as measured by the occupational review. The results indicate that consumption of vegetables or some vegetable-related constituent may have a protective effect on developing mesothelioma.