Diet and breast cancer

Abstract

The role of diet for the risk of breast cancer is of great interest as a potentially modifiable risk factor. The evidence from prospective observational studies was reviewed and summarized on selected dietary factors, gene-diet interactions, and breast cancer incidence. Dietary factors were considered that, based on their nutritional constituents, are of particular interest in the context of breast cancer:fat intake, biomarkers of fat intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, C, E, and beta-carotene), serum antioxidants, carbohydrate intake, glycemic index and glycemic load, dairy consumption (including vitamin D), consumption of soy products and isoflavones, green tea, heterocyclic amines, and adolescent diet. The PubMed database was searched for all prospective studies that relate these dietary items to the incidence of breast cancer or consider gene-diet interactions. Among the prospective epidemiologic studies conducted on diet and breast cancer incidence and gene-diet interactions and breast cancer incidence, to date there is no association that is consistent, strong, and statistically significant, with the exception of alcohol intake, overweight, and weight gain. The apparent lack of association between diet and breast cancer may reflect a true absence of association between diet and breast cancer incidence or may be due to measurement error exceeding the variation in the diet studied, lack of sufficient follow-up, and focus on an age range of low susceptibility. The risk of breast cancer can be reduced by avoidance of weight gain in adulthood and limiting the consumption of alcohol.

Policy and Research Recommendations Emerging from the Scientific Evidence Connecting Environmental Factors and Breast Cancer

“…16,17 In a companion piece to this article, we examine the increasingly sophisticated and compelling data linking radiation and many chemicals in our environment to the current high rates of breast cancer incidence. While we acknowledge the importance of commonly discussed risk factors for breast cancer-primary genetic mutations, 18 reproductive history 19 and lifestyle factors such as weight gain, 20 alcohol consumption 21,22 and lack of physical exercise 23 -we assert that these commonly discussed factors alone do not address a large portion of the risk for the disease. 24 An important body of scientific evidence demonstrates that exposure to common chemicals and radiation contributes to the incidence of breast cancer.…”

Green Tea and Its Extracts in Cancer Prevention and Treatment

“…Michels et al [149] also considered the effects from 3 studies in the general population, one study in atomic bomb survivors and one pooled analysis as nonsupporting, and concluded from epidemiological studies: "The apparent lack of association between diet and breast cancer may reflect a true absence of association between diet and breast cancer incidence, or may be due to measurement errors exceeding the variation in the diet studied, lack of sufficient follow-up, and focus on an age range of low susceptibility." [149].…”

Nutrients and nipple aspirate fluid composition: the breast microenvironment regulates protein expression and cancer aetiology

“…Of the environmental factors, the link between diet and BC risk has long been recognized [35]. Because benign breast disease (BBD), particularly atypical hyperplasia (AH), is a marker of increased BC risk, studies of diet and BBD have provided evidence about the effect of diet at an early stage in the process of breast carcinogenesis, reporting also some contrasting results [26,52].…”

“…It is well known that high consumption of fruit and vegetable has been thought to provide protection against many types of cancer, including BC [15]. Their consumption could decrease BC risk through several mechanisms, mainly linked to the abundance of antioxidants contained therein, which also contain biocompounds such as isoflavones, lignans and indoles [1,2,64]; all of these substances have been convincingly shown to have anticarcinogenic properties and strong effects on estrogen metabolism (as reviewed in [38]), even though to date there are contrasting findings [35].…”

“…It is well known that high consumption of fruit and vegetable has been thought to provide protection against many types of cancer, including BC [15]. Their consumption could decrease BC risk through several mechanisms, mainly linked to the abundance of antioxidants contained therein, which also contain biocompounds such as isoflavones, lignans and indoles [1,2,64]; all of these substances have been convincingly shown to have anticarcinogenic properties and strong effects on estrogen metabolism (as reviewed in [38]), even though to date there are contrasting findings [35].It is becoming clear that relationships between diet and breast cancer aetiology are extremely complex, and that the impact of micro-and macro-nutrients on BC risk are dependent in part on genetic factors [20,21,58]. Being the application of molecular epidemiology to nutrition and breast cancer in its infancy, recent studies have highlighted the importance of investigations of diet, genetic variability and breast cancer risk using a fluid non-invasively collected from breast ducts (nipple aspirate fluid, NAF), a fluid that mirrors the microenvironment of the breast tissue during physio-pathological conditions [29,43,44,56].…”