Cruciferous Vegetable Intake and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between cruciferous vegetables and prostate cancer (PCa) risk remains contentious. This study aimed to assess the association between consuming cruciferous vegetables and PCa risk.

Methods: We carried out a systematic search through PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library until September 20, 2022. The results of the article will be analyzed using the Stata 14 software. This meta-analysis was reported as directed by the PRISMA guidance, and the study protocol was recorded in PROSPERO (CRD42022361556).

Results: 7 case-control studies and 9 cohort studies were eventually included, including 70,201 PCa cases and 1,264,437 members. The higher the intake of cruciferous vegetables, the lower the risk of PCa. In comparison to the lowest dose of cruciferous vegetables, the overall relative risk (RR) of cruciferous vegetables having the highest dose was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80-0.95; I2 = 59.2%). A significant linear trend (p = 0.002) was observed for the association, with a combined RR of 0.955 (95% CI: 0.928-0.982) for every 15 g of cruciferous vegetables per day.

Conclusions: The study revealed that consumption of cruciferous vegetables may be linked to reduced PCa risk.

Keywords: Cruciferous vegetables intake; Dose-response analysis; Meta-analysis; Prostate cancer.