Nutritional Epidemiologic Studies for Colorectal Cancer Prevention

The dramatic increase in colorectal cancer incidence in the population of East Asia indicates that diet and lifestyle play a role in colorectal cancer risk. Colorectal cancer prevention and etiologic studies have long provided dietary modification strategies for colorectal cancer prevention. In this review, we provide an overview of the epidemiologic evidence on the association between diet and colorectal cancer risk. Several cohort studies and a few intervention studies, most conducted in Western countries, have shown a possible link between red and processed meat, alcoholic beverages, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B and the Western dietary pattern with colorectal cancer development. For colorectal cancer prevention in both Western and Asian populations, dietary modification is a key component of colorectal cancer prevention.