Yogurt Intake-Colorectal Cancer Link Differs by Abundance of Bifidobacterium

TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The association of long-term yogurt intake with colorectal cancer incidence seems to differ by the abundance of tumor tissue Bifidobacterium, according to a study published online Feb. 12 in Gut Microbes.

Satoko Ugai, Ph.D., from Brigham and Women”s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues utilized the prospective cohort incident-tumor biobank method and resources of two prospective cohort studies to examine whether long-term yogurt intake is associated with colorectal cancer incidence differentially by tumor subgroups according to the amount of tissue Bifidobacterium.

The researchers documented 3,079 incident colorectal cancer cases, including 1,121 with available tissue Bifidobacterium data, during follow-up of 132,056 individuals. There was a difference in the association between long-term yogurt intake and colorectal cancer incidence based on the abundance of Bifidobacterium (P heterogeneity = 0.0002). Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were 0.80 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.50 to 1.28) and 1.09 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.46) in individuals who consumed two or more servings/week versus less than one serving/month for Bifidobacterium-positive and Bifidobacterium-negative tumors, respectively. In a subgroup analysis of proximal colon cancer, this differential association was also seen (P heterogeneity, 0.018).

“Our findings suggest that long-term yogurt intake may lower the incidence of Bifidobacterium-positive proximal colorectal cancer (but not Bifidobacterium-negative subtype),” the authors write. “Further studies are warranted to elucidate the potential mechanisms for the effects of long-term yogurt intake on colorectal carcinogenesis.”

Two authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text