Dietary Advanced Glycation End-Products (dAGE) and Prostate Cancer

Principal Investigator

Name
Susan Steck

Degrees
Ph.D., M.P.H.

Institution
University of South Carolina

Position Title
Professor

Email
ssteck@sc.edu

About this CDAS Project

Study
PLCO (Learn more about this study)

Project ID
PLCO-2021

Initial CDAS Request Approval
Feb 13, 2026

Title
Dietary Advanced Glycation End-Products (dAGE) and Prostate Cancer

Summary
Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are a heterogeneous group of compounds formed from the non-enzymatic metabolism between reducing sugars and proteins or lipids. Diets rich in sugars, proteins, and fat are major sources of exogenous AGEs, particularly when foods are prepared using high-temperature cooking methods. Elevated AGE levels promote oxidative stress and chronic inflammation and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Notably, increased AGE accumulation has also been observed in prostate tumor tissues. Collectively, these findings suggest that high dietary AGE exposures may contribute to carcinogenesis. Thus, the goal of this study is to examine the association between dietary intake of AGEs and prostate cancer risk in the PLCO. Similar to our previously published manuscript using PLCO data to examine associations between AGEs and breast cancer, we will use dietary data from the food frequency questionnaire (DQX) administered at baseline to participants in the intervention arm of the PLCO to calculate AGE intake, and follow-up data to determine newly diagnosed prostate cancer cases. We will exclude subjects who had a cancer diagnosis before baseline except for non-melanoma skin cancer, and participants with extremely high or low energy intake per day as indicated from the baseline DQX (more than two interquartile ranges above the 75th percentile or below the 25th percentile on the logarithmic scale). Using multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression, we will estimate the risk of prostate cancer by quintile of dietary AGE level, using the lowest quintile as the referent group, as well as for the continuous AGE variable. We will explore whether associations are modified by demographic and lifestyle factors such as race and ethnicity, smoking status, body mass index, and diabetes status, and whether associations differ by aggressiveness of the tumor (high aggressive defined as Gleason sum >=8 or stage T3-T4).

Aims

Aim1: Estimate the AGE content present in foods consumed by male PLCO study participants by utilizing dietary data from the Diet Questionnaire (DQX) and existing databases on AGE content in foods and beverages.
Aim 2: Examine the associations between dietary AGE levels and the risk of prostate cancer using multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling. We hypothesize that intake of foods with high AGE content will be positively associated with the risk of prostate cancer.
Aim 3: Examine whether associations are modified by demographic or lifestyle factors such as race and ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, and diabetes status, and whether associations differ by aggressiveness of the tumor.

Collaborators

Susan Steck University of South Carolina
Hadi Rashidi University of South Carolina