Plasma carotenoids, retinol and tocopherol levels and the risk of ovarian cancer

Objective. We investigated the relation between plasma carotenoids, retinol and tocopherol levels and ovarian cancer risk in Korean women. Design. Hospital-based case-control study. Setting. Six tertiary medical institutes in Korea. Population. Forty-five epithelial ovarian cancers and 135 age-matched controls. Methods. Preoperative plasma concentrations of -carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin plus lutein, retinol, -tocopherol, and -tocopherol were measured by reverse-phase, gradient high-pressure liquid chromatography. Main outcome measures. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated by tertiles to evaluate the effect of micronutrients on endometrial cancer risk after adjustment for body mass (BMI) index, menopause, parity, oral contraceptive use, smoking status, and alcohol consumption status. Results. Women in the highest tertile for -carotene had 0.12-times the risk of ovarian cancer of in the lowest tertile (OR 0.12; 95%CI 0.04-0.36). Women with the highest tertiles of lycopene (OR 0.09; 95%CI 0.03-0.32), zeaxanthin/lutein (OR 0.21; 95%CI 0.09-0.52), retinol (OR 0.45; 95%CI 0.21-0.98), -tocopherol (OR 0.23; 95%CI 0.10-0.53) and -tocopherol (OR 0.28; 95%CI 0.11-0.70) had lower risk of ovarian cancer than women in the lowest tertiles. Results were consistent across strata of socio-epidemiologic factors. Conclusions. Micronutrients, specifically ss-carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin, lutein, retinol, -tocopherol, and -tocopherol, may play a role in reducing the risk of ovarian cancer.