Maintaining or adopting a traditional Mediterranean Diet (MD), even after a cancer diagnosis, may be beneficial, says a new study, which attributes the regimen’s health benefits to its blend of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumor compounds. Results of the observational study suggest that people who had cancer and reported a high adherence to the MD had a 32% lower risk of mortality compared to participants who did not follow the diet. The benefit was particularly evident for cardiovascular mortality, which was reduced by 60%, according to the research team co-led by Marialaura Bonaccio, first study author and Co-Principal Investigator of the Joint Research Platform at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Neuromed. “The beneficial role of the Mediterranean Diet in primary prevention of some tumors is well known in the literature,” said Bonaccio. “However, little is known about the potential benefits that this dietary model can have for those who have already received a cancer diagnosis.” Main results Result analysis, which appears as part of a research letter that is currently in press, revealed that each 2-point increment in the Mediterranean diet score (MDS) was associated with 16% (hazard ratio [HR]:0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.99; P=0.038) lower all-cause mortality rates. HRs per 2-point increment in the MDS adjusted for variables associated with both the exposure and the outcomes at P<0.15 were 0.69 (95% CI:0.49-0.97; P=0.032) for cardiovascular disease mortality and 0.91 (95% CI:0.73-1.12; P=0.37) for cancer death. “High adherence to a traditional MD was independently associated with a substantial reduction in all-cause mortality rates among cancer survivors, specifically in cardiovascular mortality,” said the authors of the paper. “The latter observation is relevant because patients with cancer are considered a high cardiovascular disease risk population because of shared modifiable risk factors and, potentially, molecular mechanisms of disease, as postulated by the “common soil” hypothesis.” Maria Benedetta Donati, Principal Investigator of the Joint Platform added: “These data support an interesting hypothesis that different chronic diseases, such as tumors and heart diseases, actually share the same molecular mechanisms. “This is known in the literature as 'common soil', namely a common ground from which these two groups of disorders originate.” Polyphenols in MD The research team went onto identify the MD as abundant in foods that are natural sources of polyphenols: bioactive compounds with well-established anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumor activities. This, they said, may be relevant not only to cancer onset and progression but also and possibly even more to cardiovascular mortality prevention. “The Mediterranean Diet is mostly composed of foods such as fruit, vegetables and olive oil, which are natural sources of antioxidant compounds,” said Chiara Tonelli, President of the Scientific Committee of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation. “[This] could explain the advantage observed in terms of mortality not only from cancer, but also from cardiovascular diseases, which can be reduced by diets particularly rich in these bioactive compounds.” The research team proposed that a lack of a significant association with cancer mortality could be due to the different types of cancers included in the investigation. Of equal significance was the multifaceted nature of cancer progression and recurrence, which was strongly influenced by non-nutritional factors (e.g., diagnostic and prevention strategies) that vary substantially across socioeconomic strata of the population. Study methods The study analyzed 476 women (59%) and 326 men (41%) with a mean age of 63±12 years who reported diagnoses of any type of cancer at study entry. Diet was assessed an average of 8.8±8.3 years after diagnosis, and the mean MDS was 4.4±1.6. During 12.7 years of follow-up (9,279 person-years), a total of 248 all-cause deaths were recorded, including 59 cardiovascular deaths and 140 deaths due to cancer. Sources: Bonaccio M, Di Castelnuovo A, Costanzo S, et al. Mediterranean Diet Is Associated With Lower All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Among Long-Term Cancer Survivors. JACC CardioOncology. Article in Press. Image Credit: aamulya – stock.adobe.com