Fats & Bladder cancer

Introduction

We’re back to epidemiology this week, but it’s an interesting one. The paper is called “Dietary fats and their sources in association with the risk of bladder cancer: A pooled analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies” (Ref 1). The paper was published in January 2022, but it was recently reported by the UK Independent newspaper, which is when it came to my attention (Ref 2).

The paper opened with the global position on bladder cancer. It is the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, with approximately 573,000 new cases and 213,000 deaths each year (Ref 3). Approximately 75% of bladder cancer cases are nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) “characterized by frequent recurrences, which requires intensive treatments and follow-up measures, posing a large burden on the national health care budgets and patient's quality of life” (Ref 1).

The introduction to the paper noted that previous research has reported that fluids, fruit, vegetables and yogurt are associated with reduced risk of BC, while a ‘Western diet’ has been associated with a higher risk. This study set out to examine the effect of fat intake from different dietary sources on bladder cancer. It found and pooled data from 11 population studies. These included the countries involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC), which are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom. Plus, the Netherlands cohort study and the North America VITamins and Lifestyle cohort study (VITAL).