Prospective Study of Fruits and Vegetables and Risk of Oral Premalignant Lesions in Men

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Abstract
The authors prospectively evaluated fruit and vegetable consumption and the incidence of oral premalignant lesions among 42,311 US men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Diet was assessed every 4 years by food frequency questionnaires. The authors confirmed 207 cases of clinically or histopathologically diagnosed oral premalignant lesions occurring between 1986 and 2002. Multivariate-adjusted relative risks were calculated from proportional hazards models. Significant inverse associations were observed with citrus fruits, citrus fruit juice, and vitamin-C-rich fruits and vegetables, indicating 30–40% lower risks with greater intakes (e.g., citrus fruit juice quintile 5 vs. quintile 1 relative risk = 0.65, 95% confidence interval: 0.42, 0.99). Inverse associations with fruits did not vary by smoking status and were stronger in analyses of baseline consumption, with a 10-year lag time to disease follow-up (quintile 5 vs. quintile 1 relative risk = 0.41, 95% confidence interval: 0.20, 0.82; p = 0.01). No associations were observed with total vegetables or with β-carotene-rich or lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables. For current smokers, green leafy vegetables (ptrend = 0.05) and β-carotene-rich fruits and vegetables (ptrend = 0.02) showed significant linear trends of increased risk (one additional serving/day relative risk = 1.7). The risk of oral premalignant lesions was significantly reduced with higher consumption of fruits, particularly citrus fruits and juices, while no consistent associations were apparent for vegetables.

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