Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom

K. E. Bradbury; A. Balkwill; E. A. Spencer; A. W. Roddam; G. K. Reeves; J. Green; T. J. Key; Kirstin Pirie; Emily Banks; Valerie Beral; Ruth English; Jane Green; Julietta Patnick; Richard Peto; Gillian Reeves; Martin Vessey; Matthew Wallis; Hayley Abbiss; Simon Abbott; Miranda Armstrong; Angela Balkwill; Vicky Benson; Judith Black; Anna Brown; Benjamin Cairns; Karen Canfell; Dexter Canoy; Barbara Crossley; Francesca Crowe; Dave Ewart; Sarah Ewart; Lee Fletcher; Sarah Floud; Toral Gathani; Laura Gerrard; Adrian Goodill; Lynden Guiver; Isobel Lingard; Sau Wan Kan; Oksana Kirichek; Mary Kroll; Nicky Langston; Bette Liu; Maria Jose Luque; Kath Moser; Lynn Pank; Keith Shaw; Emma Sherman; Evie Sherry-Starmer; Helena Strange; Sian Sweetland; Alison Timadjer; Sarah Tipper; Ruth Travis; Lucy Wright; Owen Yang; Heather Young

doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.148

Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom

K. E. Bradbury^*, A. Balkwill, E. A. Spencer, A. W. Roddam, G. K. Reeves, J. Green, T. J. Key, Kirstin Pirie, Emily Banks, Valerie Beral, Ruth English, Jane Green, Julietta Patnick, Richard Peto, Gillian Reeves, Martin Vessey, Matthew Wallis, Hayley Abbiss, Simon Abbott, Miranda ArmstrongAngela Balkwill, Vicky Benson, Judith Black, Anna Brown, Benjamin Cairns, Karen Canfell, Dexter Canoy, Barbara Crossley, Francesca Crowe, Dave Ewart, Sarah Ewart, Lee Fletcher, Sarah Floud, Toral Gathani, Laura Gerrard, Adrian Goodill, Lynden Guiver, Isobel Lingard, Sau Wan Kan, Oksana Kirichek, Mary Kroll, Nicky Langston, Bette Liu, Maria Jose Luque, Kath Moser, Lynn Pank, Keith Shaw, Emma Sherman, Evie Sherry-Starmer, Helena Strange, Sian Sweetland, Alison Timadjer, Sarah Tipper, Ruth Travis, Lucy Wright, Owen Yang, Heather Young

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Organically produced foods are less likely than conventionally produced foods to contain pesticide residues. Methods: We examined the hypothesis that eating organic food may reduce the risk of soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other common cancers in a large prospective study of 623 080 middle-aged UK women. Women reported their consumption of organic food and were followed for cancer incidence over the next 9.3 years. Cox regression models were used to estimate adjusted relative risks for cancer incidence by the reported frequency of consumption of organic foods. Results: At baseline, 30%, 63% and 7% of women reported never, sometimes, or usually/always eating organic food, respectively. Consumption of organic food was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of all cancer (n=53 769 cases in total) (RR for usually/always vs never=1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.07), soft tissue sarcoma (RR=1.37, 95% CI: 0.82-2.27), or breast cancer (RR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.02-1.15), but was associated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (RR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.65-0.96). Conclusions: In this large prospective study there was little or no decrease in the incidence of cancer associated with consumption of organic food, except possibly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2321-2326
Number of pages	6
Journal	British Journal of Cancer
Volume	110
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.148
Publication status	Published - 29 Apr 2014

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10.1038/bjc.2014.148

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Bradbury, K. E., Balkwill, A., Spencer, E. A., Roddam, A. W., Reeves, G. K., Green, J., Key, T. J., Pirie, K., Banks, E., Beral, V., English, R., Green, J., Patnick, J., Peto, R., Reeves, G., Vessey, M., Wallis, M., Abbiss, H., Abbott, S., ... Young, H. (2014). Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Cancer, 110(9), 2321-2326. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.148

@article{070fd9d2585c4b9b8d96d811203308ae,

title = "Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom",

abstract = "Background: Organically produced foods are less likely than conventionally produced foods to contain pesticide residues. Methods: We examined the hypothesis that eating organic food may reduce the risk of soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other common cancers in a large prospective study of 623 080 middle-aged UK women. Women reported their consumption of organic food and were followed for cancer incidence over the next 9.3 years. Cox regression models were used to estimate adjusted relative risks for cancer incidence by the reported frequency of consumption of organic foods. Results: At baseline, 30\%, 63\% and 7\% of women reported never, sometimes, or usually/always eating organic food, respectively. Consumption of organic food was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of all cancer (n=53 769 cases in total) (RR for usually/always vs never=1.03, 95\% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.07), soft tissue sarcoma (RR=1.37, 95\% CI: 0.82-2.27), or breast cancer (RR=1.09, 95\% CI: 1.02-1.15), but was associated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (RR=0.79, 95\% CI: 0.65-0.96). Conclusions: In this large prospective study there was little or no decrease in the incidence of cancer associated with consumption of organic food, except possibly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.",

keywords = "cancer, cohort, organic food, women",

author = "Bradbury, \{K. E.\} and A. Balkwill and Spencer, \{E. A.\} and Roddam, \{A. W.\} and Reeves, \{G. K.\} and J. Green and Key, \{T. J.\} and Kirstin Pirie and Emily Banks and Valerie Beral and Ruth English and Jane Green and Julietta Patnick and Richard Peto and Gillian Reeves and Martin Vessey and Matthew Wallis and Hayley Abbiss and Simon Abbott and Miranda Armstrong and Angela Balkwill and Vicky Benson and Judith Black and Anna Brown and Benjamin Cairns and Karen Canfell and Dexter Canoy and Barbara Crossley and Francesca Crowe and Dave Ewart and Sarah Ewart and Lee Fletcher and Sarah Floud and Toral Gathani and Laura Gerrard and Adrian Goodill and Lynden Guiver and Isobel Lingard and Kan, \{Sau Wan\} and Oksana Kirichek and Mary Kroll and Nicky Langston and Bette Liu and Luque, \{Maria Jose\} and Kath Moser and Lynn Pank and Keith Shaw and Emma Sherman and Evie Sherry-Starmer and Helena Strange and Sian Sweetland and Alison Timadjer and Sarah Tipper and Ruth Travis and Lucy Wright and Owen Yang and Heather Young",

year = "2014",

month = apr,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1038/bjc.2014.148",

language = "English",

volume = "110",

pages = "2321--2326",

journal = "British Journal of Cancer",

issn = "0007-0920",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "9",

}

Bradbury, KE, Balkwill, A, Spencer, EA, Roddam, AW, Reeves, GK, Green, J, Key, TJ, Pirie, K, Banks, E, Beral, V, English, R, Green, J, Patnick, J, Peto, R, Reeves, G, Vessey, M, Wallis, M, Abbiss, H, Abbott, S, Armstrong, M, Balkwill, A, Benson, V, Black, J, Brown, A, Cairns, B, Canfell, K, Canoy, D, Crossley, B, Crowe, F, Ewart, D, Ewart, S, Fletcher, L, Floud, S, Gathani, T, Gerrard, L, Goodill, A, Guiver, L, Lingard, I, Kan, SW, Kirichek, O, Kroll, M, Langston, N, Liu, B, Luque, MJ, Moser, K, Pank, L, Shaw, K, Sherman, E, Sherry-Starmer, E, Strange, H, Sweetland, S, Timadjer, A, Tipper, S, Travis, R, Wright, L, Yang, O & Young, H 2014, 'Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom', British Journal of Cancer, vol. 110, no. 9, pp. 2321-2326. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.148

TY - JOUR

T1 - Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom

AU - Bradbury, K. E.

AU - Balkwill, A.

AU - Spencer, E. A.

AU - Roddam, A. W.

AU - Reeves, G. K.

AU - Green, J.

AU - Key, T. J.

AU - Pirie, Kirstin

AU - Banks, Emily

AU - Beral, Valerie

AU - English, Ruth

AU - Green, Jane

AU - Patnick, Julietta

AU - Peto, Richard

AU - Reeves, Gillian

AU - Vessey, Martin

AU - Wallis, Matthew

AU - Abbiss, Hayley

AU - Abbott, Simon

AU - Armstrong, Miranda

AU - Balkwill, Angela

AU - Benson, Vicky

AU - Black, Judith

AU - Brown, Anna

AU - Cairns, Benjamin

AU - Canfell, Karen

AU - Canoy, Dexter

AU - Crossley, Barbara

AU - Crowe, Francesca

AU - Ewart, Dave

AU - Ewart, Sarah

AU - Fletcher, Lee

AU - Floud, Sarah

AU - Gathani, Toral

AU - Gerrard, Laura

AU - Goodill, Adrian

AU - Guiver, Lynden

AU - Lingard, Isobel

AU - Kan, Sau Wan

AU - Kirichek, Oksana

AU - Kroll, Mary

AU - Langston, Nicky

AU - Liu, Bette

AU - Luque, Maria Jose

AU - Moser, Kath

AU - Pank, Lynn

AU - Shaw, Keith

AU - Sherman, Emma

AU - Sherry-Starmer, Evie

AU - Strange, Helena

AU - Sweetland, Sian

AU - Timadjer, Alison

AU - Tipper, Sarah

AU - Travis, Ruth

AU - Wright, Lucy

AU - Yang, Owen

AU - Young, Heather

PY - 2014/4/29

Y1 - 2014/4/29

N2 - Background: Organically produced foods are less likely than conventionally produced foods to contain pesticide residues. Methods: We examined the hypothesis that eating organic food may reduce the risk of soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other common cancers in a large prospective study of 623 080 middle-aged UK women. Women reported their consumption of organic food and were followed for cancer incidence over the next 9.3 years. Cox regression models were used to estimate adjusted relative risks for cancer incidence by the reported frequency of consumption of organic foods. Results: At baseline, 30%, 63% and 7% of women reported never, sometimes, or usually/always eating organic food, respectively. Consumption of organic food was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of all cancer (n=53 769 cases in total) (RR for usually/always vs never=1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.07), soft tissue sarcoma (RR=1.37, 95% CI: 0.82-2.27), or breast cancer (RR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.02-1.15), but was associated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (RR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.65-0.96). Conclusions: In this large prospective study there was little or no decrease in the incidence of cancer associated with consumption of organic food, except possibly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

AB - Background: Organically produced foods are less likely than conventionally produced foods to contain pesticide residues. Methods: We examined the hypothesis that eating organic food may reduce the risk of soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other common cancers in a large prospective study of 623 080 middle-aged UK women. Women reported their consumption of organic food and were followed for cancer incidence over the next 9.3 years. Cox regression models were used to estimate adjusted relative risks for cancer incidence by the reported frequency of consumption of organic foods. Results: At baseline, 30%, 63% and 7% of women reported never, sometimes, or usually/always eating organic food, respectively. Consumption of organic food was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of all cancer (n=53 769 cases in total) (RR for usually/always vs never=1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.07), soft tissue sarcoma (RR=1.37, 95% CI: 0.82-2.27), or breast cancer (RR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.02-1.15), but was associated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (RR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.65-0.96). Conclusions: In this large prospective study there was little or no decrease in the incidence of cancer associated with consumption of organic food, except possibly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

KW - cancer

KW - cohort

KW - organic food

KW - women

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84899986806

U2 - 10.1038/bjc.2014.148

DO - 10.1038/bjc.2014.148

M3 - Article

SN - 0007-0920

VL - 110

SP - 2321

EP - 2326

JO - British Journal of Cancer

JF - British Journal of Cancer

IS - 9

ER -

Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom

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