ArticleCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2019
The Association between Prebiotic Fiber Supplement Use and Colorectal Cancer Risk and Mortality in the Women's Health Initiative.
Article in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- The Gut Nexus: Unraveling Microbiota-Mediated Links Between Type 2 Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Dietary Fiber Intake Was Inversely Associated with All-Cause Mortality but Not with Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Mortalities in the US.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Associations between diet and nutritional supplements and colorectal cancer: A systematic review.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2024Article
- Colorectal cancer and inulin supplementation: the good, the bad, and the unhelpful.Gastroenterology report · 2024Review
- Understanding the mechanisms and translational implications of the microbiome for cancer therapy innovation.Nature cancer · 2023Review
- Dietary Nonstarch Polysaccharide Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: Findings from the Singapore Chinese Health Study.Cancer research communications · 2022Article
- Preventing Colorectal Cancer through Prebiotics.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Radiotherapy and the gut microbiome: facts and fiction.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFiber-based prebiotic supplements are marketed for maintaining bowel health and promoting beneficial gut bacteria. However, the association between prebiotic supplement use and colorectal cancer risk and mortality is unknown.
methodsThe association between prebiotic use and colorectal cancer risk and mortality was evaluated in postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative study. Self-reported prebiotic use was documented at study enrollment. Adjudicated colorectal cancer cases and mortality were captured using medical and death records. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the HR related to prebiotic use and colorectal cancer risk and mortality.
resultsIn total, 3,032 colorectal cancer cases were diagnosed during an average 15.4 years of follow-up. Overall, 3.7% of women used a prebiotic with psyllium, the major fiber type. Use of any prebiotic supplement was not associated with colorectal cancer risk or mortality. The type of prebiotic supplement (none vs. insoluble or soluble) was not associated with colorectal cancer risk; however, use of insoluble fiber prebiotics compared with none was associated with higher colorectal cancer mortality [HR, 2.79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.32-5.90;
conclusionsPrebiotic fiber supplement use was not associated with colorectal cancer risk. Insoluble, but not soluble, prebiotic fiber use was associated with higher colorectal cancer mortality. These findings do not support the promotion of prebiotic fiber supplements to reduce colorectal cancer risk or colorectal cancer mortality. IMPACT: Further investigation is warranted for findings regarding insoluble prebiotic fiber and higher colorectal cancer mortality in postmenopausal women.
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