ArticleJournal of the National Cancer Institute2023
Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of colorectal cancer precursors: results from 3 prospective cohorts.
Article in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Evidence on the Role of Ready-to-Eat Cereals in Diet and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Association between dietary factors and colorectal serrated polyps: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Modifiable risk factors contributing to the rising incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer in the United States over three decades: a Global Burden of Disease analysis.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Article
- Metabolomic Pattern of Ultra-Processed Food Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer Precursors.Gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Assessing the role of ultra-processed foods in colorectal cancer incidence: insights from the EPIC cohort.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Why Is Colorectal Cancer Occurring Earlier? Metabolic Dysfunction, Underrecognized Carcinogens, and Emerging Controversies.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- A review of dietary patterns and the colorectal polyp-to-carcinoma sequence: polyp occurrence, polyp recurrence, and colorectal cancer.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Metabolomic pattern of ultraprocessed food intake and its association with colorectal cancer risk.Gut · 2025Article
- Intake of total and selected carotenoids and colorectal cancer risk: An Italian case-control study.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Ultra-processed foods, biological ageing, and all-cause mortality risk: a prospective cohort study using 172,225 participants from UK Biobank.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Food Preservatives and the Rising Tide of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: Mechanisms, Controversies, and Emerging Innovations.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association Between Ultra-processed Food Consumption and Mortality Among US Adults: Prospective Cohort Study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2018Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2025Article
- The association between ultra-processed foods intake and the odds of prostate cancer: a case-control study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- A novel FFQ for Brazilian adults based on the Nova classification system: development, reproducibility and validation.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- What Are TikTok Users Saying About Colorectal Cancer? An Examination of Content, Quality, and Emerging Themes.Gastro hep advances · 2025Article
- Ultraprocessed Food Intake and Risk of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Among Women Observed in the Nurses' Health Study Cohorts.Arthritis care & research · 2025Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods and the Impact on Cardiometabolic Health: The Role of Diet Quality.Diabetes & metabolism journal · 2024Review
- Ultra-processed food consumption and renal cell carcinoma incidence and mortality: results from a large prospective cohort.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Allura Red AC is a xenobiotic. Is it also a carcinogen?Carcinogenesis · 2024Review
- Ultra-Processed Foods: A Narrative Review of the Impact on the Human Gut Microbiome and Variations in Classification Methods.Nutrients · 2024Review
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Abstract
backgroundGrowing evidence indicates the adverse effect of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. However, it remains unknown whether UPF consumption influences the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) precursors, namely conventional adenomas and serrated lesions.
methodsWe drew data from the Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, comprising 142 052 participants who had undergone at least 1 lower gastrointestinal endoscopy during follow-up. To handle multiple records per participants, we used multivariable logistic regression for clustered data to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of colorectal polyps in relation to cumulative average consumption of UPFs. All statistical tests were 2-sided.
resultsWe documented 11 644 patients with conventional adenomas and 10 478 with serrated lesions during 18-20 years of follow-up. Compared with participants in the lowest quintile of UPF consumption, those in the highest quintile had an increased risk of conventional adenomas (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.26) and serrated lesions (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.28). Similar results were found for high-risk polyps (ie, advanced adenomas and ≥10 mm serrated lesions; OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.07 to 1.28). These associations were slightly attenuated but remained statistically significant after further adjusting for body mass index, Western dietary pattern score, or individual dietary factors (fiber, folate, calcium, and vitamin D). The results remained essentially unchanged after excluding processed meat from total UPF intake.
conclusionsHigher consumption of UPFs is associated with an increased risk of CRC precursors. UPFs might be a modifiable target for early prevention of CRC.
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