Association of Dietary Intake of Zinc and Selenium with Breast Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study in Chinese Women

Abstract

As major nonenzymatic antioxidant components in the body, dietary Zinc (Zn) and Selenium (Se) may have an impact on breast cancer development. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary Zn, Se intake and breast cancer risk in Chinese women. The case-control study included 1591 cases and 1622 age-frequency matched controls. Dietary intake was collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Dietary Zn and Se were divided into four categories: Zn/Se from plants, Zn/Se from meat, Zn/Se from red meat, and Zn/Se from white meat. Unconditional logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline analyses were performed to identify potential associations. Zn from white meat intake was linearly and inversely associated with breast cancer risk, and Se from red meat intake was linearly and positively associated with breast cancer risk, with adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of 0.76 (0.61–0.95) and 1.36 (1.04–1.77), respectively. Non-linear relationships were found between total dietary Zn, Zn from meat, Zn from red meat intake and breast cancer risk (pnon-linearity < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary Zn and Se intake were associated with breast cancer risk in Chinese women, and the optimal intake of Zn may be beneficial for breast cancer prevention.

Zinc and Its Antioxidant Properties: The Potential Use of Blood Zinc Levels as a Marker of Cancer Risk in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers

“…There have been 18 published prospective studies on the correlation between cancer risk and zinc [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. There are numerous publications that demonstrate a correlation between zinc and cancer risk [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. However, these are retrospective papers, and for this reason, they were not analyzed further in our publication.…”

“…There have been 18 published prospective studies on the correlation between zinc and cancer risk [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Additionally, numerous retrospective publications demonstrate a correlation between zinc and cancer risk [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. To date, the role of zinc in tumorigenesis in women with BRCA1 mutations has not been studied, and for this reason, this was the purpose of our work.…”