Abstract
Dietary intake of isoflavones has been positively associated with risk of breast cancer (BC) in some earlier studies. In addition, most studies on diet-disease associations came from western countries and limited data are available in the Middle-East. This case-control study was performed on 350 women with BC aged over 30years who were recruited from hospitals or private clinics in Isfahan, Iran. All patients were diagnosed with BC during the maximum of the last 6months using physical examination and mammography findings. Using cluster method sampling, 700 apparently healthy age- and socioeconomic status-matched controls were randomly selected from healthy women who had no relationship with BC patients and had no familial history of BC. Data on dietary intakes were collected using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. The DPI was calculated based on dietary energy derived from foods rich in phytochemicals (kcal) divided by total daily energy intake (kcal) of each participant. Mean ± SD age and BMI in the study participants were 62.4 ± 10.8 years and 24.3 ± 5.2kg/m2, respectively. In the crude model, participants in the highest quartile of DPI had 63% lower odds of breast cancer compared to those in the lowest quartile (95% CI 0.26, 0.54; P-trend < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, this inverse association became strengthened (95% CI 0.22, 0.49; P-trend < 0.001). Further adjustment for BMI did not change the association (OR for the highest quartile vs. the lowest quartile = 0.40, 95% CI 0.26, 0.60; P-trend < 0.001). In conclusion, a protective association was observed between DPI and BC in this case-control study. Therefore, high consumption of foods rich in phytochemicals such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains might help reducing the odds of BC among women.
Highlights
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer in the world
It seems that additional data are required to further investigate the association between dietary phytochemical index (DPI) and risk of breast cancer, in particular in women residing in the Middle East, where dietary intakes are different from other parts of the world
Compared to people in the bottom quartile, those in the top quartile of DPI had higher weight and BMI and were more likely to use supplements, be post-menopause, married and educated. They were less likely to reside in urban areas, have family history of breast cancer (BC), use alcohol, and to be smoker, physically active, breast fed the child and were of poor socioeconomic status compared to individuals in the first quartile of DPI
Summary
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer in the world. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in both developing and developed countries [1,2,3,4]. The protective association of these food groups with BC might be mediated through their high content of phytochemicals, which are a wide part of dietary components linked to reduced risk of several chronic disease including cardiovascular disease [13] ,diabetes [14], inflammatory bowel disease[15] and Alzheimer’s disease [16]. Most studies on diet-disease association came from western countries and limited data are available in Middle-East. Nutritional transition in this region has been resulted in a decreased intake of nutrient-dense foods, which are originally high in phytochemicals. Most studies on diet-disease associations came from western countries and limited data are available in the Middle-East
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