Total and individual antioxidant intake and endometrial cancer risk: results from a population-based case–control study in New Jersey

We evaluated the role of total dietary antioxidant capacity and of individual antioxidants on endometrial cancer risk in a population-based case–control study in New Jersey, including 417 cases and 395 controls. Dietary intake was ascertained using a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) intake was estimated using the USDA Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) database and the University of Oslo’s Antioxidant Food Database (AFD) and FFQ-derived estimates of intake. Odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals were derived using multivariate logistic regression controlling for major endometrial cancer risk factors. Using the ORAC database, after adjusting for major covariates, we found decreased risks for the highest tertile of total phenolic intake compared with the lowest (OR: 0.62; 95 % CI: 0.39–0.98). There was no association for TAC intake based on the AFD, which utilized the ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) assay to assess antioxidant capacity. There was no strong evidence for an association with intake of any of the individual antioxidants. Our findings suggest that total phenolic consumption may decrease endometrial cancer risk.