Dietary Patterns and Risk of Adenocarcinoma of the Lung in Males: A Factor Analysis in Uruguay

In the period 1996-2004, a hospital-based case-control study on diet and adenocarcinoma of the lung in men was conducted in Montevideo, Uruguay. The study included 200 cases and 800 controls, frequency matched on age, residence, and interviewers. Factor analysis (principal components) was used to identify the major food patterns associated with adenocarcinoma. The analysis of food groups led to the identification of 4 patterns, arbitrarily labeled as Western, starchy vegetables, prudent, and milk/coffee. Whereas the Western pattern (OR 1.94,95% CI 1.08-3.45) and the milk/coffee pattern (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.35-3.90) were positively associated with risk of adenocarcinoma of the lung, the starchy vegetables (OR 0.49, 95% 0.28-0.86) and prudent patterns (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32-0.92) were significantly protective against this malignancy. The results suggests that adenocarcinoma of the lung could be considered a different nosologic entity, compared with the other histologies of lung cancer.