Carbohydrate intake, glycemic load, glycemic index, and risk of ovarian cancer

Background: Our objective was to determine the relationship between dietary glycemic load (GL), glycemic index (GI), carbohydrate intake, and ovarian cancer risk in a population-based case-control study. Patients and methods: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic and lifestyle factors, and a food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information from 1366 women with ovarian cancer and 1414 population controls. Results: GL was positively associated with ovarian cancer. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the highest versus the lowest quartile of intake was 1.24 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.55, P for trend = 0.03]. Fiber intake was inversely associated with risk. The OR comparing women in the highest fiber-intake group with those in the lowest was 0.78 (95% CI 0.62-0.98, P for trend = 0.11). We found no association between GI, carbohydrate intake, and ovarian cancer. In analyses stratified by body mass index, the risk estimates for GL, carbohydrate, and sugar were higher among overweight/obese women; however, the interaction term was only significant for sugar (P for interaction = 0.004). Conclusions: Our results suggest that diets with a high GL may increase the risk of ovarian cancer, particularly among overweight/obese women, and a high intake of fiber may provide modest protection. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved.