Healthy Diet, Polygenic Risk Score, and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk: A Prospective Study from UK Biobank

Dietary and genetic factors are considered to be associated with UGI cancer risk. However, examinations of the effect of healthy diet on UGI cancer risk and the extent to which healthy diet modifies the impact of genetic susceptibility on UGI cancer remains limited. Associations were analyzed through Cox regression of the UK Biobank data (n = 415,589). Healthy diet, based on “healthy diet score,” was determined according to fruit, vegetables, grains, fish, and meat consumption. We compared adherence to healthy diet and the risk of UGI cancer. We also constructed a UGI polygenic risk score (UGI-PRS) to assess the combined effect of genetic risk and healthy diet. For the results high adherence to healthy diet reduced 24% UGI cancer risk (HR (high-quality diet): 0.76 (0.62–0.93), p = 0.009). A combined effect of high genetic risk and unhealthy diet on UGI cancer risk was observed, with HR reaching 1.60 (1.20–2.13, p = 0.001). Among participants with high genetic risk, the absolute five-year incidence risk of UGI cancer was significantly reduced, from 0.16% to 0.10%, by having a healthy diet. In summary, healthy diet decreased UGI cancer risk, and individuals with high genetic risk can attenuate UGI cancer risk by adopting a healthy diet.