Intake of total, classes, and subclasses of (poly)phenols and risk of lymphoid neoplasms: a prospective analysis in the EPIC cohort

Background: Existing epidemiological evidence regarding the potential role of (poly)phenol intake in lymphoma development is limited. Methods: We investigated the associations between the intake of total and individual classes and subclasses of (poly)phenols and the risk of lymphoma, including main frequent subtypes in the EPIC cohort using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Results: During a mean 14-year follow-up (time frame: from 1990–1994 to 2008–2013), 2394 incident lymphoma cases were diagnosed from a total of 367,463 individuals. No significant associations were observed between total intakes of (poly)phenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids and overall lymphoma risk. Total (poly)phenols, phenolic acid and hydroxycinnamic acid intakes were positively associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) risk [HRlog2 = 2.56 (95% confidence interval: 1.27–5.16); 1.81 (1.14–2.87); and 1.48 (1.03–2.12), respectively]. Conversely, isoflavone intakes was inversely associated with risk of overall lymphoma [HRlog2 = 0.96 (0.93–0.99)], and non-Hodgkin lymphoma [HRlog2 = 0.95 (0.92–0.99)] and mature B-cell lymphoma [HRlog2 = 0.96 (0.92–0.99)], and flavone intakes with risk of multiple myeloma/plasma cell neoplasm [HRlog2 = 0.75 (0.60–0.95)]. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that isoflavone intakes may reduce the risk of overall lymphoma and specific lymphoma subtypes, while phenolic acids, particularly hydroxycinnamic acids might increase the risk of HL.