Table 3.
Summary findings of the associations between plant-based dietary factors and prognosis by cancer site
| Exposure | Summary findings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast cancer | Colorectal cancer | Prostate cancer | Bladder cancer | Overall cancer | |
| PDIs | Non-BC mortality ↓ for higher hPDI and ↑ for higher uPDI [11••] | AC-M ↓ for higher PDI, AC-M (↓) for higher hPDI and AC-M (↑) for higher uPDI [14••] | - | - | - |
| Fruit and vegetables | ↔ from meta-analyses [17, 21]; AC-M ↓ for high intake of fruits and vegetables, and vegetables; AC-M and BC-M ↑ for high fruit juice intake; AC-M ↓ for high intake of cruciferous vegetables and vegetables high in β-carotene [13•]; ↔ for fruit and vegetable score [28] | OS ↓ for fruit and vegetables intake of 5 servings/d [35] | - | ↔ [39] | ↔ from meta-analysis [7] |
| Whole grains (WG) | ↔ [23]; ↔ for % WG of total grains [28] | From meta-analysis [19••]: AC-M ↓ for high WG intake; AC-M and CRC-M ↓ for high whole grain intake [15•]; OS ↓ for preferring WG over refined grains [35] | - | - | - |
| Refined grains | - | DFS, RFS and OS ↑ for high refined grain intake; DFS, RFS, and OS ↓ for replacing 1 serving/d of refined grains with WG [12•] | - | - | - |
| Nuts | DFS ↓ for high nut intake [30•] | DFS and OS ↓ for high total nut intake, DFS, RFS and OS ↓ for high tree nut consumption [32]; AC-M ↓ for higher nut intake [14••] | AC-M ↓ for high total nut intake, and for other nuts than peanuts, Fatal PC (↓) [16] | - | - |
| Carbohydrates (CHO) |
BC-M and AC-M ↑ for high CHO intake from fruit juice BC-M (↓) and AC-M ↓ for high CHO intake from vegetables, AC-M ↑ for high CHO intake from refined grains; BC-M ↑ and AC-M (↑) for high CHO intake from potatoes [24] |
- | - | - | - |
| Vegetable fat | - | ↔ [36] | AC-M ↓ for high vegetable fat intake and for replacing en% CHO or animal fat with vegetable fat [37] | - | - |
| Vegetable protein | ↔ [26] | - | - | - | - |
| Fibre | From meta-analysis [20••]: AC-M ↓ and BC-M (↓) for high fibre intake | AC-M and CRC-M ↓ for high total fibre, especially cereal fibre, AC-M ↓ for vegetable fibre [15•] | - | - | - |
| Soy/isoflavone | From meta-analysis [22••]: OS (↓); AC-M, BC-M and Rec ↓ for moderate soy isoflavone intake [25•]; AC-M (↓) for high isoflavone intake [31] | - | - | - | - |
| Phytoestrogens/flavonoids | Rec ↑ for high conc. of circulating genistein and resveratrol; BC-M ↑ for high conc. of luteolin [27•] | ↔ for serum genistein and luteolin conc [33] | - | - | - |
| Folate | OS ↓ for higher plasma total folate conc. [29] | ↔ for high total and food folate intake [34] | - | - | - |
| Carotenoids, lycopene | ↔ from meta-analysis [18] | - | - | ↔ for lycopene but PC-M ↓ for cumulative high intake of lycopene among men diagnosed with high-risk PC [38] | - |
↔ no associations with cancer prognostic outcomes observed, ↓ decreased risk, ↑ increased risk, (), only tendency (the one is included in the 95% CI), - no study available
AC-M all-cause mortality, ACS American Cancer Society, BC-M breast cancer mortality, conc. concentration, CRC-M colorectal cancer mortality, DFS disease-free survival, OS overall survival, PC-M prostate cancer mortality, PDI overall plant-based diet index, uPDI unhealthy plant-based diet index, hPDI healthy plant-based diet index, Rec recurrence, RFS recurrence-free survival, WG whole grain