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Research: MIGNONE and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 178
Abstract
MIGNONE and COLLEAGUES, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. lmignone@hsph.harvard.edu quantified the association between certain fruits, vegetables, carotenoids, and vitamin A and breast cancer risk in a large population-based case-control study of women living in the USA.
Background
Certain classes of vitamins and nutrients found in fruits and vegetables have been of particular interest in relation to cancer prevention, owing to their potential anticarcinogenic properties.
Methodology
We examined the association between certain fruits, vegetables, carotenoids, and vitamin A and breast cancer risk in a large population-based case-control study of women residing in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. The study was comprised of 5,707 women with incident invasive breast cancer (2,363 premenopausal women and 3,516 postmenopausal women) and 6,389 population controls (2,594 premenopausal women and 3,516 postmenopausal women). In an interview, women were asked about their intake of carotenoid rich fruits and vegetables 5 years prior to a referent date.
Results
An inverse association observed among premenopausal women was for high levels of vitamin A (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.01), beta-carotene (OR: 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.009), alpha-carotene (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.07) and lutein/zeaxanthin (OR: 0.83, 95% CI 0.68-0.99, p for trend = 0.02). An inverse association was not observed among postmenopausal women. Among premenopausal women who reported ever smoking, these results were stronger than among never smokers, although tests for interaction were not statistically significant.
Conclusion
Results from this study are comparable to previous prospective studies, and suggest that a high consumption of carotenoids may reduce the risk of premenopausal but not postmenopausal breast cancer, particularly among smokers.
References
Mignone LI, Giovannucci E, Newcomb PA, Titus-Ernstoff L, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Willett WC and Egan KM. Dietary carotenoids and the risk of invasive breast cancer. International Journal of Cancer. 124(12): 2929-37. Jun 15 2009. Copyright 2008 UICC.
Comment
It is interesting to compare the results of research from the above two studies, one from China, the second from the USA. The Chinese study shows a fairly strong inverse association between vegetable and fruit consumption and breast cancer risk [ORs = - 0.28 and 0.53] respectively, whereas the American study, which was with a larger population of women, showed a lesser inverse association [approx OR ˜ 0.82]. Additionally the US study showed no interaction among postmenopausal. There is undoubtedly a complex, intricate web of genetic, environmental and nutritional factors accounting for these variant results - intriguing!
