Nutrient-derived Dietary Patterns and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: a Factor Analysis in Uruguay

In order to explore the role of nutrients and bioactive related substances in colorectal cancer, we conducteda case-control in Uruguay, which is the country with the highest production of beef in the world. Six hundredand eleven (611) cases afflicted with colorectal cancer and 1,362 controls drawn from the same hospitals in thesame time period were analyzed through unconditional multiple logistic regression. This base population wassubmitted to a principal components factor analysis and three factors were retained. They were labeled as themeat-based, plant-based, and carbohydrates patterns. They were rotated using orthogonal varimax method. Thehighest risk was positively associated with the meat-based pattern (OR for the highest quartile versus the lowestone 1.63, 95 % CI 1.22-2.18, P value for trend = 0.001), whereas the plant-based pattern was strongly protective(OR 0.60, 95 % CI 0.45-0.81, P value for trend <0.0001. The carbohydrates pattern was only positively associatedwith colon cancer risk (OR 1.46, 95 % CI 1.02-2.09). The meat-based pattern was rich in saturated fat, animalprotein, cholesterol, and phosphorus, nutrients originated in red meat. Since herocyclic amines are formed inthe well-done red meat through the action of amino acids and creatine, it is suggestive that this pattern couldbe an important etiologic agent for colorectal cancer.