85 per cent of liver cancers occur in developing nations, with 54 per cent in China alone, the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute said.
Data was collected from a total of 1,32,837 individuals, males and females in the two population-based cohort studies jointly conducted by the Shanghai Cancer Institute and Vanderbilt University.
To determine the relationship between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk, Wei Zhang from Shanghai Cancer Institute, analysed the data.
Using food-frequency questionnaires, the researchers conducted in-person interviews to gather data on study participants' dietary habits. They compared liver cancer risk among participants who had high intake of vitamin E with those with low intake.
The analysis included 267 liver cancer patients out of which 118 were women and 149 men who were diagnosed between two years after study enrollment.
The study found Vitamin E intake from diet and vitamin E supplement use were both associated with a lower risk of liver cancer.
"We found a clear, inverse dose-response relation between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk," the researchers said.
This association was consistent among participants with and without self-reported liver disease or a family history of liver cancer.
