Dietary inflammatory index and incident prostate cancer.
- 1Department of Urology, The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
- 2Departments of Urology, Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
- 3Department of Urology, Xiuzhou District People's Hospital of Jiaxing, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China.
Abstract
Background
The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) quantifies the inflammatory potential of diet. Evidence linking DII to prostate cancer remains limited and inconsistent. We evaluated the prospective association between DII and incident prostate cancer in a large population-based cohort.Methods
We included 30,972 men who were free of prostate cancer at baseline. The DII was derived from 27 dietary components assessed by the Oxford WebQ. Incident prostate cancer was identified from linked cancer-registry records (ICD-10 C61). Cox regression was the primary analysis, with age included in all adjusted models; logistic regression was secondary. Lag, additional-covariate, and age-stratified Cox models assessed sensitivity. Mediation and Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) analyses were exploratory.Results
During a median follow-up of 13.8 years (IQR 13.5-14.2; 406,058 person-years), 1,546 participants developed incident prostate cancer. The unadjusted inverse association (HR per 1-unit DII increase 0.951, 95% CI 0.927-0.977) was attenuated after adjustment for age and other covariates (fully adjusted HR 0.986, 95% CI 0.956-1.018; P = 0.389; Q4 vs Q1 HR 0.928, 95% CI 0.788-1.093; P for trend = 0.426). The secondary logistic analysis was likewise null (OR per 1-unit increase 0.982, 95% CI 0.950-1.015; P = 0.275). Age-adjusted lag analyses and exploratory CRP/NLR mediation analyses did not materially alter this interpretation. DII was inversely correlated with the revised 18-nutrient MAR (Pearson r = -0.694; Spearman ρ = -0.756), but neither index was associated with prostate cancer in the age-adjusted joint model.Conclusions
An apparent inverse DII-prostate cancer association in unadjusted analyses was explained largely by age differences across DII categories. After adjustment for age and other covariates, neither logistic nor time-to-event analyses supported an independent association. These findings underscore the importance of rigorous age control in prostate cancer epidemiology and should not be interpreted causally.
Related
- Longitudinal joint trajectories of the dietary inflammatory index and physical activity and risk of incident cardiometabolic multimorbidity among women: evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey
- Association of dietary total antioxidant capacity, dietary inflammatory index, and dietary phytochemical index with sarcopenia in middle-aged and older Iranian women: a case-control study
- Dietary inflammatory index in relation to metabolic health status, serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and adropin in Iranian adults
- Composite inflammatory indices and incident lung cancer risk in an exploratory statistical mediation analysis
- Dietary inflammatory index and gestational diabetes mellitus in a multicenter cross sectional study in Suzhou
BibTeX
@article{li2026dietary,
title = {{Dietary inflammatory index and incident prostate cancer.}},
author = {Sheng Li and Yaodan Chen and Libin Zhou and Tielin Wu and Jianting Xu and Min Yin and Huimin Long and Lin Cao},
journal = {Frontiers in oncology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fonc.2026.1932640},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908676},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dietary inflammatory index and incident prostate cancer.
AU - Sheng Li
AU - Yaodan Chen
AU - Libin Zhou
AU - Tielin Wu
AU - Jianting Xu
AU - Min Yin
AU - Huimin Long
AU - Lin Cao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Frontiers in oncology
DO - 10.3389/fonc.2026.1932640
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908676
AB - Background The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) quantifies the inflammatory potential of diet. Evidence linking DII to prostate cancer remains limited and inconsistent. We evaluated the prospective association between DII and incident prostate cancer in a large population-based cohort.Methods We included 30,972 men who were free of prostate cancer at baseline. The DII was derived from 27 dietary components assessed by the Oxford WebQ. Incident prostate cancer was identified from linked cancer-registry records (ICD-10 C61). Cox regression was the primary analysis, with age included in all adjusted models; logistic regression was secondary. Lag, additional-covariate, and age-stratified Cox models assessed sensitivity. Mediation and Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) analyses were exploratory.Results During a median follow-up of 13.8 years (IQR 13.5-14.2; 406,058 person-years), 1,546 participants developed incident prostate cancer. The unadjusted inverse association (HR per 1-unit DII increase 0.951, 95% CI 0.927-0.977) was attenuated after adjustment for age and other covariates (fully adjusted HR 0.986, 95% CI 0.956-1.018; P = 0.389; Q4 vs Q1 HR 0.928, 95% CI 0.788-1.093; P for trend = 0.426). The secondary logistic analysis was likewise null (OR per 1-unit increase 0.982, 95% CI 0.950-1.015; P = 0.275). Age-adjusted lag analyses and exploratory CRP/NLR mediation analyses did not materially alter this interpretation. DII was inversely correlated with the revised 18-nutrient MAR (Pearson r = -0.694; Spearman ρ = -0.756), but neither index was associated with prostate cancer in the age-adjusted joint model.Conclusions An apparent inverse DII-prostate cancer association in unadjusted analyses was explained largely by age differences across DII categories. After adjustment for age and other covariates, neither logistic nor time-to-event analyses supported an independent association. These findings underscore the importance of rigorous age control in prostate cancer epidemiology and should not be interpreted causally.
SN - 2234-943X
ER -