Dietary fats and serum lipids in relation to the risk of ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Xu Zhang; Hong-Mei Ding; Li-Feng Deng; Guo-Chong Chen; Jie Li; Ze-Yin He; Li Fu; Jia-Fu Li; Fei Jiang; Zeng-Li Zhang; Bing-Yan Li

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1153986

Dietary fats and serum lipids in relation to the risk of ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Front Nutr. 2023 Sep 14:10:1153986. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1153986. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xu Zhang^#¹, Hong-Mei Ding^#², Li-Feng Deng^#³, Guo-Chong Chen¹, Jie Li¹, Ze-Yin He¹, Li Fu², Jia-Fu Li⁴, Fei Jiang⁴, Zeng-Li Zhang⁴, Bing-Yan Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Although numerous epidemiological studies investigated the association between dietary fat intakes or serum lipid levels and ovarian cancer risk, a consistent and explicit conclusion for specific dietary fats or serum lipids that increase the risk of ovarian cancer is not available. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the key dietary fats and serum lipids that increased the risk of ovarian cancer. Databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched for observational studies. A total of 41 studies met the inclusion criteria, including 18 cohort and 23 case-control studies (109,507 patients with ovarian cancer and 2,558,182 control/non-ovarian cancer participants). Higher dietary intakes of total fat (RR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.06-1.33, I² = 60.3%), cholesterol (RR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.03-1.26, I² = 19.4%), saturated fat (RR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.04-1.22, I² = 13.4%), and animal fat (RR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.01-1.43, I² = 70.5%) were significantly associated with a higher risk of ovarian cancer. A higher level of serum triglycerides was accompanied by a higher risk of ovarian cancer (RR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.02-1.72, I² = 89.3%). This meta-analysis indicated that a higher daily intake of total fat, saturated fat, animal fat, and cholesterol and higher levels of serum triglycerides were significantly associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

Keywords: dietary fat; meta-analysis; observational study; ovarian cancer; serum lipid levels.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81872622, 81673151, U1832140, and 81703209) and a sub-project was funded by the Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.