There is limited research on the effect of dietary quality on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in populations with relatively high risk of HCC. Using data from Singapore Chinese Health Study, a prospective cohort study, of 63 257 Chinese aged 45 to 74, we assessed four diet-quality index (DQI) scores: the Alternative Health Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010), Alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Heathy Diet Indicator (HDI). We identified 561 incident HCC cases among the cohort participants after a mean of 17.6 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for HCC in relation to these DQI scores. Unconditional logistic regression method was used to evaluate the associations between DQIs and HCC risk among a subset of individuals who tested negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). High scores of AHEI-2010, aMED and DASH, representing higher dietary quality, were associated with lower risk of HCC (all Ptrend < .05). Compared with the lowest quartile, HRs (95% CIs) of HCC for the highest quartile of AHEI-2010, aMED and DASH were 0.69 (0.53-0.89), 0.70 (0.52-0.95) and 0.67 (0.51-0.87), respectively. No significant association between HDI and HCC risk was observed. Among HBsAg-negative individuals, similar inverse associations were observed, and the strongest inverse association was for aMED (HRQ4vsQ1 = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.23-0.94, Ptrend = .10). These findings support the notion that adherence to a healthier diet may lower the risk of HCC, suggesting that dietary modification may be an effective approach for primary prevention of HCC.
Keywords: diet-quality index (DQI) scores; hepatocellular carcinoma; risk factor.
© 2020 UICC.