Abstract
BackgroundThe effect of antioxidants on breast cancer is still controversial. Our objective was to assess the association between antioxidants and breast cancer risk in a large population-based case-control study.MethodsThe study population included 2,362 cases with pathologically confirmed incident breast cancer (866 premenopausal and 1,496 postmenopausal) and 2,462 controls in Canada. Intakes of antioxidants from diet and from supplementation as well as other potential risk factors for breast cancer were collected by a self-reported questionnaire.ResultsCompared with subjects with no supplementation, 10 years or longer supplementation of zinc had multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 0.46 (0.25-0.85) for premenopausal women, while supplementation of 10 years or longer of multiple vitamin, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc had multivariable-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of 0.74 (0.59, 0.92), 0.58 (0.36, 0.95), 0.79 (0.63-0.99), 0.75 (0.58, 0.97), and 0.47 (0.28-0.78), respectively, for postmenopausal women. No significant effect of antioxidants from dietary sources (including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc) or from supplementation less than 10 years was observed.ConclusionsThis study suggests that supplementation of zinc in premenopausal women, and supplementation of multiple vitamin, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc in postmenopausal women for 10 or more years may protect women from developing breast cancer. However, we were unable to determine the overall effect of total dose or intake from both diet and supplement.
Highlights
The effect of antioxidants on breast cancer is still controversial
Data from 2,362 breast cancer cases (866 premenopausal cases and 1,496 postmenopausal cases) and 2,462 controls were available for analysis
The average intakes of beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc from diet and average years of supplementation were similar for cases and controls for both premenopausal and postmenopausal women
Summary
The effect of antioxidants on breast cancer is still controversial. Our objective was to assess the association between antioxidants and breast cancer risk in a large population-based case-control study. According to the most recent projection from Canadian Cancer Society, there will be 22,700 new cases of female breast cancer representing 27.9% of all cancer cases in women, and 5,400 deaths caused by breast cancer accounting for 15.1% of all cancer-related deaths in women in Canada in 2009 [1]. Antioxidants such as vitamin A and its precursor (beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, etc), vitamins C, E, and selenium, have drawn a lot of attention to the “mopping up” free radicals, they decrease oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage [4,6,7,9]. The objective of this study was to assess the association between antioxidants from both diet and supplement and breast cancer, using data from a large population based case-control study in Canada
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