Dietary patterns and risk of laryngeal cancer: An exploratory factor analysis in Uruguayan men

Laryngeal carcinoma is a common malignancy among Uruguayan men. A number of case-control and prospective studies have studied the role of diet in this malignancy. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has explored broad dietary patterns by factor (principal components) analysis. The results of this study retained 6 dietary patterns. Pattern 5 (drinker) was directly associated with risk of laryngeal carcinoma (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.9-7.5), whereas the Pattern 2 (healthy) was protective (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.3-1.2). Finally, the Pattern 6 (western) displayed a significant increase in risk of 3.2 (95% CI 1.6-6.2). Most dietary patterns were associated with supraglottic cancer, supporting a possible etiological difference between supraglottic and glottic carcinomas. This study also suggests that the analysis of dietary patterns might be a useful approach for investigating nutritional factors implicated in laryngeal carcinogenesis.