WASHINGTON: Eating a lot of white bread may increase the risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, while vegetarian food lowers it, a case-control study has revealed.

Previous studies on RCC had shown that diet plays an important role in monitoring the risk of the disease, but they did not tell which foods could be harmful or beneficial.

With a view to discern the relationship between specific foods and RCC risk, researchers led by Fancesca Bravi of the Institute of Pharmacological Research "Mario Negri" in Milan, conducted a large case-control study of 2,301 Italians.

They found that there is a significant association between high bread consumption and RCC risk.For their study, the researchers enrolled 767 adults diagnosed with RCC and 1,534 controlled subjects who did not have the disease between 1992 and 2004.

They matched two controlled subjects to each case by gender, age range, and location, and collected sociodemographic information, anthropomorphic measures, lifestyle habits, and personal and family medical history from each participant.

They also administered a 78-item food frequency questionnaire which comprised of questions about the average weekly consumption for each item over the previous two years, and analysed the information gathered. They found that those who consumed more bread had a higher RCC risk.

They also saw a modest non-significant risk increase amongst those who ate a lot of pasta and rice. By contrast, decreasing risk was associated with increasing intake of poultry, processed meat, and vegetables.