Cruciferous vegetables consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies

BACKGROUND To quantify the effect of cruciferous vegetable consumption on the incidence of ovarian cancer by meta-analyzing the existing observational studies and provides quantitative and high-level evidence. METHODS A detailed literature search of Medline and EMBASE for all relevant papers published. A meta-analysis was conducted for the association between cruciferous vegetable consumption and risk of ovarian cancer. RESULTS A total of 4,306 cases in 375,562 controls in 11 independent studies were identified in this current meta-analysis. The result of this current meta-analysis, including 6 case-control and 5 cohort studies, indicated that cruciferous vegetable intake was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. Cruciferous vegetable consumption was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer in case-control studies (RR=0.84; 95% CI, 0.75-0.94) but not in cohort studies (RR=1.00; 95% CI, 0.85-1.11). CONCLUSIONS The results from this meta-analysis of observational studies demonstrate that cruciferous vegetable consumption is a prospective factor of the ovarian cancer. However, more in-depth studies are warranted to report more detailed results, including other specific vegetables within the cruciferous vegetable family. VIRTUAL SLIDES The virtual slide (s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1116708293115581.