Whole grain consumption and risk of colorectal cancer: a population-based cohort of 60 000 women

We examined prospectively the association between whole grain consumption and colorectal cancer risk in the population-based Swedish Mammography Cohort. A total of 61 433 women completed a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline ( 1987 - 1990) and, through linkage with the Swedish Cancer Registry, 805 incident cases of colorectal cancer were identified during a mean follow-up of 14.8 years. High consumption of whole grains was associated with a lower risk of colon cancer, but not of rectal cancer. The multivariate rate ratio (RR) of colon cancer for the top category of whole grain consumption (>= 4.5 servings day(-1)) compared with the bottom category (<1.5 servings day(-1)) was 0.67 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.47 - 0.96; P-value for trend = 0.06). The corresponding RR after excluding cases occurring within the first 2 years of follow-up was 0.65 ( 95% CI, 0.45 - 0.94; P-value for trend = 0.04). Our findings suggest that high consumption of whole grains may decrease the risk of colon cancer in women.