Dietary mineral intake and lung cancer risk: the Rotterdam Study

OBJECTIVE: Limited data are available on the role of mineral intake in the development of lung cancer (LC). We investigated whether dietary calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc intake were associated with LC risk. METHODS: We analyzed data from 5435 participants of the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and older. At baseline (1990–1993), diet was measured by a validated food frequency questionnaire. LC events were diagnosed on the basis of pathology data and medical records. Hazard ratios (HRs) on LC for energy-adjusted mineral intake were calculated using Cox regression models while adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: During a follow-up period of 22 years, we identified 211 incident cases of LC. A higher zinc intake was associated with 42 % reduction in risk of LC (top tertile vs. first tertile: HR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.35; 0.94, P-for trend = 0.039). Similarly, high intake of iron was associated with reduced risk of LC (top tertile vs. first tertile: HR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.37; 0.92, P-for trend = 0.021). There was no association between dietary intake of calcium, copper, magnesium and selenium and LC risk. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that dietary zinc and iron intake are associated with reduced risk of LC. No evidence was found for an association between calcium, copper, magnesium and selenium intake and LC risk. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00394-016-1210-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.