Dietary patterns and risk of cervical cancer: a case-control study in Uruguay

Abstract

In the time period 1996-2004, a case-control study on diet and cervical cancer was conducted at the National Cancer Institute in Uruguay. The study included 268 cases and 536 controls with non-neoplastic diseases. The foods and beverages in the food-frequency questionnaire were included in a factor analytic model. This method retained three factors which were labeled as the drinker, red meat, and prudent patterns. The model explained 60% of the variance. Whereas the red meat and drinker patterns were directly associated with the risk of cervical cancer (OR for red meat pattern 1.79, 95% CI 1.12-2.86), on the other hand, the prudent pattern was inversely associated with cervical cancer (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38-0.93). To our knowledge, this study was the first one using factor analysis in order to elucidate the role of the diet in relation with cervical cancer.