Association between dietary inflammatory index and Hodgkin's lymphoma in an Italian case-control study

Objectives The components of a diet can modulate inflammation and may have an effect on the development of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Little is known about the inflammatory potential of diet in relation to HL. Methods Data from an Italian multicenter case-control study that was conducted between 1992 and 2008 were used to estimate the relation between a dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and the risk of HL. The data included 179 cases with incident, histologically confirmed HL and 186 control cases who were hospitalized for acute non-neoplastic diseases. The DII was computed on the basis of a validated, 78-item, food-frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios that were adjusted for age, sex, total energy intake, center, body mass index, years of education, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption. Results No significant association was observed between an increasing DII and the risk of HL when used either as a continuous or categorical variable. The multivariate odds ratio for the highest versus the lowest DII tertile was 1.20 (95% confidence interval: 0.71–2.04). Similarly, no positive association was observed when analyses were carried out by different strata of selected covariates. Conclusions These results do not support the hypothesis that the inflammatory potential of a diet plays a major role in the development of HL.