Acrylamide not tied to thyroid, head-neck cancers

The chemical acrylamide, which is classified as a probable cancer-causing agent, does not appear to increase overall risk for mouth, throat, voice box, or thyroid cancers, with one possible exception, study findings hint.

Besides a possible link to an increased risk of mouth cancer among non-smoking women, Dr. Leo J. Schouten at Maastricht University, and colleagues observed no link between low to high levels of dietary acrylamide and other head-neck or thyroid cancers among 120,852 Dutch people followed for more than 16 years.

However, the small number of mouth cancer cases in the group calls for further investigation to determine "whether there is a real association or just a chance finding," Schouten noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Acrylamide is found in some starchy foods cooked at high temperatures such as French fries and potato chips, baked goods and coffee. Animal studies have indicated acrylamide may cause cancer, and in 2005 the World Health Organization called for lower levels of acrylamide in food. However, studies of any link to human cancers have produced variable results.

Using food frequency surveys obtained when participants' were 55 to 69 years old, Schouten's team estimated the men's and women's average daily acrylamide intake at 22.5 and 21.1 micrograms, respectively, they report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Coffee accounted for about 47 percent of this intake. Dutch spiced cake, cookies, French fries, and potato crisps accounted for another 15, 13, 8, and 2 percent, respectively.

Besides the noted exception among non-smoking women, there was no link between acrylamide and head/neck and thyroid cancers in analyses that allowed for age, gender, smoking status, number of cigarettes smoked, and number of years spent smoking, as well as other demographic and dietary factors.

Considering that acrylamide molecules are small, water soluble, and, have the potential to reach nearly every organ and tissue in the body, the current findings are generally "reassuring," Schouten said.

He reiterated, however, that further investigations need to confirm or refute these findings.

In the mean time, Schouten and colleagues advise limiting acrylamide intake, particularly in foods with minimal or no health benefits, such as French fries and potato crisps.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, October 1, 2009