Non-Provitamin A and Provitamin A Carotenoids as Immunomodulators: Recommended Dietary Allowance, Therapeutic Index, or Personalized Nutrition?

Table 3

Carotenoids and cancer risk.

	β-Carotene	α-Carotene	β-Cryptoxanthin	Lycopene	Lutein + zeaxanthin
High intake				Ovarian (postmenopausal) ↓ [116]
High intake	Bladder ↓ [117]	Bladder ↓ [117]	Bladder ↓ [117]	Bladder ↔ [117]	Bladder ↔ [117]
Supplement	Bladder ↑ [118]
High intake	Breast (ER+, ER+/PR+) ↑ [95]	Breast ↓ [95]	Breast ↓ [95]	Breast (ER−/PR+ or ER−/PR−) ↓ [95]	Breast (ER−/PR+ or ER−/PR−) ↓ [95]
	(ER−/PR+ or ER−/PR−) ↓ [95]
Supplement	Gut (colorectal) ≈↑ [119]
High intake	Gut (esophageal) ↓ [120]	Gut (esophageal) ↓ [120]	Gut (esophageal) ↓ [120]	Gut (esophageal) ↓ [120]	Gut (esophageal) ↓ [120]
High intake	Gut (gastric) ↓ [121, 122]	Gut (gastric) ↓ [121, 122]		Gut (gastric) ↔ [121, 123]	Gut (gastric) (lutein) ↔ [121]
Supplement	Gut (liver) ↔ [124]
High intake	Gut (pancreatic) ↓ [125]	Gut (pancreatic) ↔ [125]	Gut (pancreatic) ↓ [125]	Gut (pancreatic) ≈↓ [125]	Gut (pancreatic) ↔ [125]
Supplement	Gut gastric ≈↑ [126]
Supplement	Gut intestinal ↑ [126]
High intake	Hodgkin lymphoma ↓ [127]	Hodgkin lymphoma ↓ [127]	Hodgkin lymphoma ↔ [127]	Hodgkin lymphoma ↔ [127]	Hodgkin lymphoma ↓ [127]
High intake	Lung ↓ [128]
Supplement	Lung ↑ [7, 129]
High intake	melanoma ≈↓ [130]
Supplement	Oral ↔ [131]
High intake	Oral ↓ [132]	Oral ↓ [132]	Oral ↓ [132]	Oral ↓ [132]
High intake	Prostate ↔ [133]	Prostate ↓ [133]		Prostate ↓ [112, 133]
Supplement	Prostate ↔ [134]

≈ ns. increase or decrease; ↓: decrease; ↑: increase; ↔: no change; ER: estrogen receptor; PR: progesterone receptor.