A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health has confirmed the risk of acrylamide in the human diet and the development of endometrial and ovarian cancers.

The researchers assessed acrylamide intake among 88,672 women in the Nurses’ Health Study using food frequency questionnaires administered every four years.  Between 1980 and 2006 they identified 6301 cases of invasive breast cancer, 484 cases of invasive endometrial adenocarcinoma, and 416 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer.  They used Cox proportional hazards models to study the association between acrylamide and cancer risk.  They found no association between acrylamide intake and breast cancer.  However, they did find an increased risk of endometrial cancer among high acrylamide consumers that was statistically significant.  They also observed  an increased risk for ovarian cancer that was not statistically significant, with a significantly increased risk for serous tumors.  These associations did not differ by smoking status.

The researchers noted that their study was the second prospective epidemiologic study to report positive associations with endometrial and ovarian cancers, thereby confirming the previously reported increased risk of dietary acrylamide exposure and these cancers among  women who consume high concentrations of acrylamide in their diet.

The study is notable not only for its findings of cancer risks among women from dietary acrylamide exposure, but also because the researchers who conducted the study had previously publicly disclaimed human cancer risk from dietary acrylamide consumption.

The citation of the study is: Wilson, K.M., et al., “A prospective study of dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers,” Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Aug 6; [Epub ahead of print].