Dietary Fat Intake and Risk of Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review and Dose–Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Abstract

Observational studies have reported controversial evidence of the association between dietary fat intake and ovarian cancer. This dose–response meta-analysis aimed to clarify quantitatively the association between dietary fat intake and ovarian cancer. The linear and non-linear relationships between fat intake and risk of ovarian cancer were investigated. Heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias were also assessed. Overall, 21 studies involved approximately 900,000 subjects were included. A significant nonlinear association was found between total fat intake with the risk of ovarian cancer, with a relatively steep slope at total fat intake higher than 30 g/day (p non-linearity <.01). Moreover, the risk of ovarian cancer was increased in non-linear form for both saturated and monounsaturated fat from 25 g/day (p non-linearity <.05). According to the findings from the linear meta-analysis, we observed a 2, 2, 1, and 1% greater risk of ovarian cancer per 10, 0.5, 2.5 g/day and 50 mg/day increase in total, trans and monounsaturated fat intake as well as cholesterol, respectively. However, this association for monounsaturated fat was marginally significant (p=.052). The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that dietary total, trans, saturated and partially monounsaturated fat as well as cholesterol intake are positively associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer.

Acknowledgments

We thank all staff in our department for providing clinical and methodological advices during the entire performance of our meta-analysis. This study was supported by Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran with code of 97-02-61-37852.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran [97-02-61-37852].