The Mediterranean diet and lung cancer; a review on case-control studies

Lung cancer is among the most common types of cancer with considerable mortality and morbidity around the globe. There are various risk factors involved in the development of lung cancer, and cancer prevention plans are mainly based on controlling the modifiable risk factors. While tobacco smoking is considered the main modifiable risk factor of lung cancer, some other modifiable factors including diet have become the center of attention in recent years. Although tobacco smoking control is one of the main strategies for preventing lung cancer in many countries, it has been discussed that eating a healthy diet can also be an adjuvant strategy for reducing the risk of developing lung cancer. In the present narrative review, we did a literature search for studies that addressed the effect of the Mediterranean diet on the development of lung cancer. Our findings show that different types of Mediterranean diets could be beneficial for reducing the risk of developing lung cancer.Â