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Urinary phytoestrogens and risk of prostate cancer in Jamaican men

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Abstract

We evaluated the relationship of spot urinary concentrations of phytoestrogens with total prostate cancer and tumor grade in a hospital-based case–control study in Jamaica. Urine samples were analyzed for genistein, daidzein, equol (isoflavones), and enterolactone (lignan) among newly diagnosed cases (n = 175) and controls (n = 194). Urinary concentrations of enterolactone (lignan) were higher among cases. There were no significant differences in median concentrations of isoflavone excretion. Compared with non-producers of equol (reference tertile), men who produced equol were at decreased risk of total prostate cancer (tertile 2: OR, 0.42; CI, 0.23–0.75) (tertile 3: OR, 0.48; CI, 0.26–0.87) (p trend, 0.020) and high-grade disease (tertile 2: OR, 0.31; CI, 0.15–0.61) (tertile 3: OR, 0.29; CI, 0.13–0.60) (p trend, 0.001). Higher concentrations of enterolactone were positively related to total prostate cancer (OR, 1.85; CI, 1.01–3.44; p trend, 0.027) as well as high-grade disease (OR, 2.46; CI, 1.11–5.46; p trend, 0.023). There were no associations between urinary excretion of genistein and daidzein with risk of prostate cancer. Producers of equol (isoflavone) may be at reduced risk of total- and high-grade prostate cancer whereas enterolactone may increase the likelihood of disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Health Fund, Planning Institute of Jamaica and the University of the West Indies (Mona), Jamaica. The authors wish to thank the research nurses -Barbara Panton, Elsa Brown, Nicola Meeks-Aitken, Donnahae Rhoden-Salmon – and study participants for their support in the investigation.

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No potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

    Maria D. Jackson

  2. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

    Norma D. McFarlane-Anderson & Garfield A. Simon

  3. Department of Pathology, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

    Franklyn I. Bennett

  4. Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

    Susan P. Walker

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  1. Maria D. Jackson
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  2. Norma D. McFarlane-Anderson
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Correspondence to Maria D. Jackson.

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Jackson, M.D., McFarlane-Anderson, N.D., Simon, G.A. et al. Urinary phytoestrogens and risk of prostate cancer in Jamaican men. Cancer Causes Control 21, 2249–2257 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9648-9

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