Diabetes risk reduction diet and risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality: A prospective cohort study

Background

We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association between a diabetes risk reduction diet (DRRD) score and the risk of liver cancer development and chronic liver disease-specific mortality.

Methods

We included 98,786 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative-Observational Study and the usual diet arm of the Diet Modification trial. The DRRD score was derived from eight factors: high intakes of dietary fiber, coffee, nuts, polyunsaturated fatty acids, low intakes of red and processed meat, foods with high glycemic index, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and trans fat based on a validated Food-Frequency Questionnaire administered at baseline (1993–1998). Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for liver cancer incidence and chronic liver disease mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results and conclusion

After a median follow-up of 22.0 years, 216 incident liver cancer cases and 153 chronic liver disease deaths were confirmed. A higher DRRD score was significantly associated with a reduced risk of developing liver cancer (HR_{Tertile 3 vs. Tertile 1} = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.49–0.97; P_trend = 0.03) and chronic liver disease mortality (HR_{T3 vs. T1} = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.35–0.82; P_trend = 0.003). We further found inverse associations with dietary fiber and coffee, and positive associations with dietary glycemic index, SSBs, and trans fat. A higher DRRD score was associated with reduced risk of developing liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality among postmenopausal women.