Diets rich in fiber reduce the mortality rate of colorectal cancer patients

The article was written by Doctor Hoang Quoc Chinh - Vinmec High Technology Center.

In 2017, scientists from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital reported their work in the journal JAMA oncology. In this study, researchers followed 1575 patients with colorectal cancer (stages I-III) for an average of eight years.
By analyzing the correlation between diet and survival time after diagnosis, researchers have shown that patient survival time has a positive relationship with dietary fiber content.
In other words, the more fiber the patient ate, the longer he lived. Specifically, patients who consumed 28.9 grams of fiber per day had a 4-year mortality rate of 48.9% while those who consumed 14.4 grams of fiber per day had a mortality rate of 66.9%.

The study also showed that patients with higher dietary fiber content than before their colorectal cancer diagnosis also had a reduced risk of colorectal cancer-related death. . Statistical modeling showed that for every 5 grams of fiber increase, the risk of death related to colorectal cancer decreased by 18%.
However, not all fiber has the same effect. Through the analysis, the researchers found that cereal-based fiber (cereal) had the strongest effect on reducing the mortality rate of colorectal cancer patients. Dietary fiber from fruits was not associated with a reduction in mortality, while fiber from vegetables, tubers, and fruits was less effective than fiber from whole grains.
Although the mechanism of fiber's effect on colorectal cancer mortality has not been elucidated, consuming large amounts of fiber daily improves many aspects of health, such as increased insulin sensitivity, improved blood lipids, enhanced endometrial function, and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, fiber can inhibit tumor growth and increase the cancer resistance of immune cells through a mediator compound called butyrate.