Untitled

Acrylamide
Acrylamide is a chemical which has been shown to be
carcinogenic in some tests on laboratory animals, and can
be formed from carbohydrates during the production or
cooking of foods at high temperatures. The possible effects of
dietary acrylamide on cancer risk in humans have been
reviewed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
Additives (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/chemicals/
acrylamide/en/). This committee concluded in 2005 that,
based on comparisons with the intake shown to cause
mammary tumours in rats, acrylamide intakes in humans are
generally low but that there is a possible human health
concern for high consumers. Epidemiological data available
are limited but have not suggested any association of
estimated dietary acrylamide intake with cancer risk in
humans (Mucci and Adami, 2005; Pelucchi et al., 2006;
Wilson et al., 2006).
Conclusions and recommendations
Carbohydrates as a group have not been intensively
investigated in epidemiological studies of diet and cancer.
There is a moderately large amount of data on the possible
association between dietary fibre and the risk for colorectal
cancer; the results of studies have varied and no firm
conclusion can be drawn, but the available data suggest
that high intakes of dietary fibre possibly reduce the risk
for colorectal cancer. There are also limited data which
suggest that high intakes of sucrose might increase the
risk for colorectal cancer and that high intakes of lactose
might increase the risk for ovarian cancer. For other
components of carbohydrates and other types of cancer,
the available data are too sparse to draw any conclusions.
Further research is needed on the possible associations
of carbohydrates with cancer risk. The systematic review
being conducted by the World Cancer Research Fund
will provide a detailed update in 2007. Further information
could also be provided by extending the Pooling Project
of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer to examine
specific classes of carbohydrates in relation to a range of
cancer sites.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Arthur Schatzkin, Professor Stephanie Smith-
Warner, Professor Carolyn Summerbell, Dr Anne Tjonneland,
Professor PA van den Brandt and Dr Martin Wiseman for their
constructive comments. The authors are supported by Cancer
Research UK.
Conflict of interest
During the preparation and peer-review of this paper in
2006, the authors and peer-reviewers declared the following
interests.
Carbohydrates and cancer
TJ Key and EA Spencer
Authors
Professor Timothy J Key: None declared.
Dr Elizabeth A Spencer: None declared.
Peer-reviewers
Dr Arthur Schatzkin: None declared.
Professor Stephanie Smith-Warner: None declared.
Professor Carolyn Summerbell: None declared.
Dr Anne Tjonneland: None declared.
Professor PA van den Brandt: None declared.
Dr Martin Wiseman: None declared.
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