NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Contrary to findings from a Dutch study, the results of a Swedish study suggest that long-term dietary intake of acrylamide does not raise the risk of endometrial cancer.

Data from animal studies have supported a carcinogenic effect for acrylamide, a chemical that can found in foods heated at high temperatures, according to the report in the International Journal of Cancer for March 1.

By contrast, epidemiologic data, although limited, has largely refuted a clinically relevant cancer risk with acrylamide intake, lead author Dr. Susanna C. Larson, from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and colleagues note. The exception is a Dutch cohort study, reported 2 years ago, in which acrylamide intake was tied to postmenopausal ovarian and endometrial cancer in never smokers.

To better understand the relationship, if any, between acrylamide intake and endometrial cancer, the research team analyzed data from 61,226 subjects in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. The women, who were cancer-free at enrollment, completed food frequency questionnaires at baseline in 1987-1990 and then again in 1997.

During an average follow-up period of 17.7 years, 687 women developed endometrial cancer. There was no evidence that acrylamide intake influenced the risk of the malignancy and this finding did not vary by smoking status.

Specifically, “The multivariate rate ratio of endometrial cancer for women in the highest quartile of acrylamide intake (mean, 33.8 mcg/day) compared to those in the lowest quartile (mean, 15.9 mcg/day) was 0.96,” the investigators report.

“The inconsistent findings from our study and the Netherlands cohort may be due to different ranges of (acrylamide) exposure,” the authors speculate. The average lowest level of intake was higher in the present cohort, while the average highest level was slightly higher in the Dutch study, they point out.

Alternatively, it is possible that the association seen in the earlier study was simply a chance finding, they add.

Reference:
SOURCE: Int J Cancer 2009;124:1196-1199.