Consumption of Fruits and Veggies Linked to Decrease in Risk of Bladder Cancer

For those looking for one more reason to sneak more fruits and vegetables into their diet, it's here: a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Hawaii's Cancer Center suggests that women who consume greater amounts from these two food groups are less likely to develop invasive bladder cancer.

Conducted as part of a study established in 1993 examining the relationship between dietary, lifestyle and genetic factors with cancer risk, the new report includes an analysis of data collected from 185,885 adults over a 12.5-year period. Of this total number of participants, 581 cases of bladder cancer arose, of which 152 were women and 429 were men.

After adjusting for variables related to cancer risk, such as age, the researchers determined that those women who consumed the most fruits and vegetables also exhibited the lowest bladder cancer risk.

For example, women who consumed the most yellow-orange vegetables were 52 percent less likely to develop bladder cancer when compared to those who consumed the least amount of yellow-orange vegetables.

Furthermore, the study showed that women with the highest intake of vitamins A, C and E also had the lowest risk of bladder cancer.

No similar association between fruit and vegetable consumption and invasive bladder cancer was detected in men, however -- the reason for which, the researchers say, is not clear.

"Our study supports the fruit and vegetable recommendation for cancer prevention," said study lead Song-Yi Park. "However, further investigation is needed to understand and explain why the reduced cancer risk with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables was confined to only women."

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), an estimated 72,570 individuals living in the United States will be diagnosed with bladder cancer before the end of the year. Furthermore, the NCI estimates that some 15,210 will die as a result of the disease during this same time period.

Symptoms of bladder cancer include bloody urine, having to empty one's bladder more often than normal, feeling the need to urinate without results, having to strain in order to empty one's bladder and feeling pain upon doing so.