Association between dietary patterns and disease recurrence in Thai colorectal cancer patients

Beside established anti-cancer treatment, dietary modification is one of the most promising approaches for reducing the probability of colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence. Many Western studies showed a relationship between shortened survival and increased amounts of Western diet (meat and processed meat). Given that Thai food is dissimilar to Western diet, we aimed to explore the association between dietary patterns and disease recurrence among Thai CRC patients. Early-stage CRC patients who were disease-free at the end of a 2-year period or patients with disease recurrence within 2 years were enrolled. Patients were administered a food frequency questionnaire to evaluate their dietary lifestyle. Quantitative comparison within individual food groups among patients who were disease-free and among those with recurrence was performed. Proportion of patients with recurrence and disease-free survival was compared between patients who had consumed the lowest and highest tertile of each dietary pattern. A total of 225 CRC patients were enrolled (151 disease-free and 74 recurrence). There were no significant differences in demographic or tumor parameters between patients with or without disease recurrence. From the questionnaire, 45 food items were assigned to 1 of 12 food groups according to similarity in nutritional profile. Patients who consumed high amounts of pickled fish or chili-paste had significantly lower recurrence rates compared to patients who had never eaten those foods (P < .01). From the factor analysis, meat/wheat, vegetarian, and fast-food/processed fruit patterns were identified as the major dietary patterns. There was no significant association between intakes of individual dietary patterns and CRC recurrence. Among CRC patients with Thai dietary lifestyles there was no association between meat/wheat, fast-food/processed fruit, or vegetarian dietary patterns and CRC recurrence. Greater consumption of some unique Thai foods, such as chili-paste or pickled fish, may relate to better outcomes for CRC patients.