Dietary Vitamin A Intake Tied to Reduced Risk for Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Increased dietary vitamin A seems to be associated with a reduced risk for incident cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), according to a study published online July 31 in JAMA Dermatology.

Jongwoo Kim, M.D., from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues examined vitamin A and carotenoid intake and SCC risk in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

The researchers observed a reduction in SCC risk with higher total vitamin A; the pooled multivariate hazard ratios were 0.97 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to 1.07) for quintile 2, 0.97 (95 percent CI, 0.80 to 1.17) for quintile 3, 0.93 (95 percent CI, 0.84 to 1.03) for quintile 4, and 0.83 (95 percent CI, 0.75 to 0.93) for quintile 5, compared with quintile 1 as a reference. Reductions in SCC risk were seen for higher intakes of retinol and some carotenoids: For the highest versus lowest quintiles of intake, the pooled hazard ratios were 0.88 (95 percent CI, 0.79 to 0.97) for total retinol, 0.86 (95 percent CI, 0.76 to 0.96) for beta cryptoxanthin, 0.87 (95 percent CI, 0.78 to 0.96) for lycopene, and 0.89 (95 percent CI, 0.81 to 0.99) for lutein and zeaxanthin.

"Our data further support the contention that supplemental and dietary vitamin A may be beneficial in preventing SCC," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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