Serum carotenoid levels and risk of lung cancer death in US adults.

Abstract

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and is the leading cause

of cancer-induced death in the USA. Although much attention has been focused on

the anti-carcinogenic effect of consuming carotenoid-containing food or

supplements, the results have been inconsistent. We investigated whether serum

carotenoid levels were associated with the mortality risk of lung cancer in US

adults using data from a nationally representative sample. The data were obtained

from the Third Nutrition and Health Examination Survey (NHANES III) database and

the NHANES III Linked Mortality File. A total of 10,382 participants aged over

20,years with available serum carotenoid levels and no other missing information

on questionnaires and biomarkers at baseline (NHANES III) were included in the

present study. Of the 10,382 participants, 161 subjects died due to lung cancer.

We found that high serum levels of alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin at

baseline were significantly associated with a lower risk of lung cancer death.

When we stratified the risk by current smoking status, the risk of death of

current smokers was significantly decreased to 46% (95% confidence interval,

31-94%) for alpha-carotene and 61% (95% confidence interval, 19-80%) for

beta-cryptoxanthin. By contrast, no association was observed among never/former

smokers at baseline. High serum levels of alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin

are associated with a lower risk of lung cancer death in US adults.