Foods Linked to Premature Aging in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Certain foods are associated with a lower risk of premature aging in adult survivors of childhood cancer, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers found that greater consumption of dark green vegetables and greater consumption of nuts or seeds are both associated with a lower risk of premature aging in this population. On the other hand, greater refined grain intake was associated with an increased risk of premature aging.

This study included 3322 childhood cancer survivors from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort. The most common childhood cancers were leukemia (36%), lymphoma (19%), and central nervous system cancers (13%).

Researchers used a food frequency questionnaire to assess the patients’ intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds, and nutrients. The researchers noted that daily intakes of foods or nutrients were expressed as amounts per 1000 kcal of total energy intake.

The researchers assessed premature aging at baseline using the deficit accumulation index (DAI) and categorized patients as low, medium, or high risk. The low-risk group was used as the reference.

In an age-adjusted analysis, greater total fruit intake was associated with a lower risk of premature aging (odds ratio [OR] for high vs low DAI group, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.46-0.90; per 1 cup/1000 kcal increase). However, when the researchers controlled for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as well, there was no significant association between fruit intake and premature aging.

Greater total vegetable intake was associated with a lower risk of premature aging in an age-adjusted analysis (OR for high vs low DAI group, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.36-0.37; per 1 cup/1000 kcal increase) and an analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as well (OR for high vs low DAI group, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.43-0.85; per 1 cup/1000 kcal increase). However, when the researchers adjusted for other dietary factors, there was no significant association between total vegetable intake and premature aging.

When the researchers looked at subgroups of vegetables, they found no significant association with premature aging for deep yellow/orange vegetables, starchy vegetables, legumes (including soy/tofu), potatoes, and other non-dark green vegetables.

However, greater consumption of dark green vegetables was associated with a significantly lower risk of premature aging in all analyses, including the fully-adjusted analysis (OR for high vs low DAI group, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.28-0.78; per 1/2 cup/1000 kcal increase).

The researchers also found that, when DAI was used as a continuous variable, greater nut and seed intake was associated with a lower risk of premature aging (coefficient_linear, -0.0115; P =.02), and greater refined grain intake was associated with an increased risk of premature aging (coefficient_linear, 0.0093; P =.005).

Greater folate intake from food was associated with a lower risk of premature aging in a fully-adjusted analysis (OR for high vs low DAI group, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80-0.99; per 50 mcg/1000 kcal increase).

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between plant foods and premature aging risk in childhood cancer survivors,” the researchers wrote. “[O]ur findings indicate that specific plant foods are associated with lower risk of premature aging, providing targets for the interventions to promote healthy aging in childhood cancer survivors.”

Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

This article originally appeared on Cancer Therapy Advisor