Among US adults, better adherence to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010) may decrease the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a recent study found. Researchers assessed the associations of 3 key commonly used a priori dietary patterns, the AHEI-2010, Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMED), and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) with risk of incident HCC in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study. Diet was assessed almost every 4 years. They found:

• During up to 32 years of follow-up, 160 incident HCC cases were identified.
• After adjustment for most HCC risk factors, participants in the highest tertile of AHEI-2010 had a multivariable hazard ratio (HR) of 0.61, compared with those in the lowest tertile.
• There was a suggestive but nonsignificant inverse association for AMED, and a null association for DASH in relation to the risk of HCC development.