Dietary fat intake and endometrial cancer risk: Dose-response meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have provided controversial evidence of the association between dietary fat intake and endometrial cancer (EC) risk. To address this inconsistency, we conducted this dose-response meta-analysis by total dietary fat intake, based on epidemiological studies published up to the end of June 2015 identified from PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science. Two authors (RH and Q-JW) independently performed the eligibility evaluation and data extraction. All differences were resolved by discussion with the third investigator (LJ). Random-effects models were used to estimate summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, the search yielded 16 studies (6 cohort and 10 case-control studies) that involved a total of 7556 EC cases and 563,781 non-cases. The summary RR for EC for each 30g/day increment intake was 0.98 (95%CI = 0.95-1.001; I2= 0%; n = 11) for total dietary fat. Non-significant results were observed in plant-based fat (summary RR = 1.05, 95%CI = 0.94-1.18; I2= 0%; n = 5) and animal-based fat (summary RR = 1.17, 95%CI = 0.92-1.36; I2= 85.0%; n = 6). Additionally, the null associations were observed in almost all the subgroup and sensitivity analyses. In conclusion, findings of the present meta-analysis suggested a lack of association between total dietary fat intake and EC risk. Further studies, especially prospective designed studies are warranted to confirm our findings.