Dietary intake of acrylamide and risk of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Acrylamide is a probable human carcinogen. Aside from occupational exposures and smoking, diet is the main source of exposure in humans. We performed a systematic review of the association between estimated dietary intake of acrylamide and risk of female breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers in non-experimental studies published through February 25, 2020, and conducted a dose-response meta-analysis. We identified 18 papers covering 10 different study populations: 16 cohort and 2 case-control studies. Acrylamide intake was associated with a slightly increased risk of ovarian cancer, particularly among never-smokers. For endometrial cancer, risk was highest at intermediate levels of exposure, whereas the association was more linear and positive among never-smokers. For breast cancer, we found evidence of a null or inverse relation between exposure and risk, particularly among never-smokers and post-menopausal women. In a subgroup analysis limited to premenopausal women, breast cancer risk increased linearly with acrylamide intake starting at 20 µg/day of intake. High acrylamide intake was associated with increased risks of ovarian and endometrial cancers in a relatively linear manner, especially among never-smokers. Conversely, little association was observed between acrylamide intake and breast cancer risk, with the exception of premenopausal women.