Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40499906›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2025

Longitudinal associations between vegetarian dietary habits and site-specific cancers in the Adventist Health Study-2 North American cohort.

Gary E Fraser, Fayth M Butler, David J Shavlik, Roy O Mathew, Jisoo Oh, Rawiwan Sirirat, Dmitry Abramov, Lars E Sveen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Adherence to pro-vegetarian dietary patterns and gastric cancer risk: a pooled analysis of the StoP Consortium.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Gary E FraserAdventist Health Study, Research Affairs, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Center for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, United States. Electronic address: gfraser@llu.edu.
Fayth M ButlerAdventist Health Study, Research Affairs, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Center for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Division of Biochemistry, Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
David J ShavlikSchool of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
Roy O MathewDivision of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda VA Healthcare System, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
Jisoo OhCenter for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
Rawiwan SiriratAdventist Health Study, Research Affairs, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Center for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
Dmitry AbramovDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, United States.
Lars E SveenAdventist Health Study, Research Affairs, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAssociations between vegetarian diets and risk of common cancers are somewhat understood, but such data on medium-frequency cancers are scarce and often imprecise.

objectivesThe objectives of this study was to describe multivariable-adjusted associations between different types of vegetarian diets (compared with nonvegetarians) and risk of cancers at different bodily sites.

methodsThe Adventist Health Study is a cohort of 95,863 North American Seventh-day Adventists established between 2002 and 2007. These analyses used 79,468 participants initially free of cancer. Baseline dietary data were obtained using a food frequency questionnaire and incident cancers by matching with state and Canadian provincial cancer registries. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using proportional hazard regression. Small amounts of missing data were filled using multiple imputations.

resultsOverall cancers, all vegetarians combined compared with nonvegetarians, had HR: 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83,0.93; P < 0.001, and for medium frequency cancers, HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.89; P < 0.001. Of specific cancers, colorectal (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.95; P = 0.011), stomach (HR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.93; P = 0.025), and lymphoproliferative (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60,0.93; P = 0.010) cancers, were significantly less frequent among vegetarians. A joint test that HR = 1.0 for all vegetarian subtypes compared with nonvegetarians was rejected for cancers of the breast (P = 0.012), lymphoma (P = 0.031), all lymphoproliferative cancers (P = 0.004), prostate cancer (P = 0.030), colorectal cancers (P = 0.023), medium frequency cancers (P < 0.001), and for all cancers combined (P < 0.001).

conclusionsThese data indicate a lower risk in vegetarians for all cancers combined, as well as for medium-frequency cancers as a group. Specific cancers with evidence of lower risk are breast, colorectal, prostate, stomach, and lymphoproliferative subtypes. Risk at some other sites may also differ in vegetarians, but statistical power was limited.

Indexed as

Diet, VegetarianFeeding BehaviorNeoplasmsAdultAgedCanadaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedNorth AmericaProportional Hazards ModelsRisk FactorsAdventist Health Study-2North American subjectsSeventh-day Adventistssite-specific cancersvegetarian subtypes

Identifiers

PMID40499906
PMCPMC12405784

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.