SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1664129
Dissecting the causal association of diet with thyroid cancer: A systematic review with meta-analysis and mendelian randomization analysis
Provisionally accepted
Chao Kang1*
Yongyao Du2Jiaxin Li3Yang Yi4Jingping Li2Manping Zhou2Jiaojiao Shi1Ning Lin1Xin Ma4Xiaoli Peng2- 1Department of Nutriology of The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, China
- 2Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
- 3Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- 4Chinese People's Liberation Army Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Background: Diet is a recognized risk factor for cancer. Recently, the role of improving thyroid-related functions through diet has been questioned. This systematic review investigates the relationship between food groups/dietary patterns and thyroid cancer. Methods: We conducted a systematic search of the literature through April 2025 in the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase database following PRISMA guidelines. ORs, HRs or RRs with 95%CIs were extracted as effect sizes and publication bias was assessed using funnel plots. Additionally, we conducted mendelian randomization (MR) analysis by selecting dietary factors (including nutrients) associated with thyroid cancer as exposure data to complement the results of meta-analysis. Results: We collected data from 16 cohort and 21 case-control studies that met the collection criteria. Meta-analysis found that high consumption of fish and alcohol-containing beverages was associated with a reduced risk of thyroid cancer, whereas consumption of high amounts of refined cereal and nitrates increased thyroid cancer risk (P<0.05). Our MR analysis data showed that some specific food items, especially seafood (like oily fish) might be the protective factors for thyroid cancer, which strengthen the previous meta-analysis results. Conclusions: This comprehensive study investigated the relationships between dietary factors and thyroid cancer risk, synthesizing findings from a meta-analysis of observational studies and MR analysis to estimate causal associations. Consistently, both the meta-analysis and MR analysis revealed that consumption of certain types of fish may be linked to a decreased risk of thyroid cancer.
Keywords: Food groups, dietary pattern, thyroid cancer, Meta-analysis, Mendelian Randomization Analysis
Received: 11 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kang, Du, Li, Yi, Li, Zhou, Shi, Lin, Ma and Peng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chao Kang, Department of Nutriology of The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.