abstract
BACKGROUND:
The
effect of artificial sweetener consumption on cancer risk has been
debated in animal models for over four decades. To further investigate
this relationship, this study aims to synthesise results from several of
the most recent studies in humans.
METHODS:
An
online literature search was performed in MEDLINE from 2003 to 2014
using Ovid, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus using keywords
'artificial', 'sweetener' and 'cancer'. Ninety-two results were then
manually assessed for eligibility. Studies were included if the
relationship between artificial sweeteners and cancer was their central
hypothesis, and if they adjusted for age, gender, smoking status and
body mass index. Extracted data included study design, patient
characteristics, outcome measure and results.
RESULTS:
In
the five publications that satisfied the inclusion criteria,
significant direct associations with artificial consumption were found
for laryngeal (odds ratio, OR 2.34, 95% CI: 1.20-4.55), urinary tract
tumours (OR 2.12, 95% CI: 1.22-3.89), non-Hodgkin lymphoma in men (RR
1.31, 95% CI: 1.01-1.72), multiple myeloma in men (RR 2.02, 95% CI:
1.20-3.40) and leukaemia (RR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.00-2.02).
Inverse
relationships were found in breast (OR 0.70, 95% CI: 0.54-0.91, p
trend = 0.015) and
ovarian (OR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.38-0.81, p
trend < 0.001) cancers.
CONCLUSION:
The
statistical value of this review is limited by the heterogeneity and
observational designs of the included studies. Although there is limited
evidence to suggest that heavy consumption may increase the risk of
certain cancers,
overall the data presented are inconclusive as to any
relationship between artificial sweeteners and cancer.
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