Chapters Transcript Video Colon Cancer Study Presented by Sara Char, MD. A new study shows that consuming an anti-inflammatory diet could extend overall survival after treatment for stage 3 colon cancer. Our study examined the association between dietary inflammation and survival in patients with stage 3 colon cancer. This was designed to be a secondary analysis of a phase three clinical trial, CALGB SWA 80702. Of the overall clinical trial cohort, 1,625 patients had completed questionnaires about their diet and lifestyle habits and were eligible for inclusion in our study. So in order to measure dietary inflammation, we used a validated tool for measuring the inflammatory nature of diets, which is called the empirical dietary inflammatory pattern or E dip. We applied this Edip tool to participants' questionnaire responses to calculate a score, where higher scores correspond with intake of a more pro-inflammatory diet. Overall, we found that greater intake of a more pro-inflammatory diet was associated with worse overall survival in patients with stage 3 colon cancer. Among the patients in our study, we found that those with the most inflammatory diets in the top 20% had an 87% higher risk of death than those with the least inflammatory diets in the bottom 20%. Interestingly, diet and physical activity jointly impacted overall survival. So the patients with less pro-inflammatory diets and higher physical activity had the best overall survival outcomes, with a 63% lower risk of death compared to patients with the most pro-inflammatory diets and lower physical activity. Interestingly, when we looked at disease-free survival, there was no statistically significant association between E dip and disease-free survival. To us, this suggests that perhaps dietary inflammation is affecting survival outcomes in stage 3 colon cancer through a mechanism that is independent of colon cancer recurrence. Overall, our findings add to the published literature about the importance of dietary patterns and the outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer, but we need further studies to be able to understand the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between pro-inflammatory diet and survival and to be able to tailor specific dietary recommendations to patients with colon cancer in the future. Published June 11, 2025 Created by Related Presenters Sara Char, MD
