Associations of whole-blood fatty acids and dietary intakes with prostate cancer in Jamaica.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of whole-blood fatty acids and reported intakes of fats with risk of prostate cancer (PCa). DESIGN: Case-control study of 209 men 40-80 years old with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed prostate cancer and 226 cancer-free men attending the same urology clinics. Whole-blood fatty acid composition (mol%) was measured by gas chromatography and diet assessed by food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: High whole-blood oleic acid composition (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1: OR, 0.37; CI, 0.14-0.0.98) and moderate palmitic acid proportions (tertile 2: OR, 0.29; CI, 0.12-0.70) (tertile 3: OR, 0.53; CI, 0.19-1.54) were inversely related to risk of PCa, whereas men with high linolenic acid proportions were at increased likelihood of PCa (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1: OR, 2.06; 1.29-3.27). Blood myristic, stearic and palmitoleic acids were not associated with PCa. Higher intakes of dietary MUFA were inversely related to prostate cancer (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1: OR, 0.39; CI 0.16-0.92). The principal source of dietary MUFA was avocado intake. Dietary intakes of other fats were not associated with PCa. CONCLUSIONS: Whole-blood and dietary MUFA reduced the risk of prostate cancer. The association may be related to avocado intakes. High blood linolenic acid was directly related to prostate cancer. These associations warrant further investigation.

Urinary phytoestrogens and risk of prostate cancer in Jamaican men.

We evaluated the relationship of spot urinary concentrations of phytoestrogens with total prostate cancer and tumor grade in a hospital-based case-control study in Jamaica. Urine samples were analyzed for genistein, daidzein, equol (isoflavones), and enterolactone (lignan) among newly diagnosed cases (n = 175) and controls (n = 194). Urinary concentrations of enterolactone (lignan) were higher among cases. There were no significant differences in median concentrations of isoflavone excretion. Compared with non-producers of equol (reference tertile), men who produced equol were at decreased risk of total prostate cancer (tertile 2: OR, 0.42; CI, 0.23-0.75) (tertile 3: OR, 0.48; CI, 0.26-0.87) (p (trend), 0.020) and high-grade disease (tertile 2: OR, 0.31; CI, 0.15-0.61) (tertile 3: OR, 0.29; CI, 0.13-0.60) (p (trend), 0.001). Higher concentrations of enterolactone were positively related to total prostate cancer (OR, 1.85; CI, 1.01-3.44; p (trend), 0.027) as well as high-grade disease (OR, 2.46; CI, 1.11-5.46; p (trend), 0.023). There were no associations between urinary excretion of genistein and daidzein with risk of prostate cancer. Producers of equol (isoflavone) may be at reduced risk of total- and high-grade prostate cancer whereas enterolactone may increase the likelihood of disease.

Iron fortification of cornmeal and wheatflour: a feasibility study in Kingston, Jamaica

A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 240 households containing pre-school aged children and women of reproductive age, in Kingston and St. Andrew, to determine intake patterns with respect to cornmeal and wheatflour, the vehicles proposed for iron fortification. Stratefied cluster sampling was used to identify the study population. Food frequencies provided information on households while women's and children's diets were examined from 24 hour recalls. Cornmeal and wheatflour were important dietary items in both urban and rural areas. Use of both cereals was positively related to the numbers of pre-school aged children, adults and elderly members of the household, and negatively related to the type of fuel used. A mean of 3.1 (ñ2.6)lbs of cornmeal was purchased per household. If the Government of Jamaica's proposal to add 40mg iron/lb to cornmeal were adopted, it is estimated that median dietary iron intake plus fortification iron would supply 7.9mg/day and 9.2mg/day in children under 2 years old and 2-5 years old, respectively. Adult women would consume 14.6mg iron/day. If wheatflour was fortified at 20mg iron/day, total dietary iron intake would be 6.7mg iron/day and 8.8mg iron/day in children 0-2 years and 2-5 years old, respectively. In women fortification of wheatflour would increase intakes to 15.6mg iron/day. Annual per capita cost of fortification is estimated at J$1.28 (US$0.23) at 1987 prices. Single 24 hour recall assessments however, may not be representative of usual diet, hence estimations of available iron must be viewed with caution (AU)