Folate Intake Associated with Reduced Risk of Colorectal Cancer
In a study involving an examination of data collected from 525,488 individuals between the ages of 50 and 71 years, who were followed up with for a mean 9.1 year, including 8.5 years post folic acid fortification, during which time 7,212 incident cases of colorectal cancer were identified, a higher total folate intake was found to be associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer (HR for 900 microg/d or greater compared to less than 200 microg/d: 0.70) in the post-fortification analysis. Protective effects were also found to be associated with the highest intakes from supplements (HR=0.82) or diet (HR=0.81), in both the pre- and post-fortification periods. The authors state, “Given that the adenoma-carcinoma sequence may take >= 10 y, additional follow-up time is needed to fully examine the effect of folic acid fortification.”
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