Abstract
The time after a breast cancer diagnosis is a potential period for making positive dietary changes, but previous results are conflicting. The main aim of the present study was to study breast cancer patients' dietary changes during the 12 months post-surgery and from 12 months pre-surgery to 12 months post-surgery with repeated administration of a 7-d pre-coded food diary and an FFQ, respectively. Women (n 506), mean age 55·3 years diagnosed with invasive breast cancer (stages I and II), were included. The dietary intake was quite stable over time, but the intake was lower for energy (0·3 and 0·4 MJ/d), alcohol (1·9 and 1·5 g/d) and vegetables (17 and 22 g/d) at 6 months than 3 weeks post-surgery (food diary) and at 12 months post-surgery than pre-surgery (FFQ), respectively. Furthermore, energy percentage (E%) from carbohydrates increased between 0·8 and 1·2 E% and E% from fat decreased between 0·6 and 0·8 E% over time, measured by both dietary assessment methods. We observed a higher intake of dairy products (11 g/d) at 6 months post-surgery (food diary), and a lower intake of dairy products (34 g/d) and red and processed meat (7·2 g/d) at 12 months post-surgery (FFQ). Moreover, 24 % of the patients claimed they made dietary changes, but mostly they did not change their diet differently compared with those patients who claimed no changes. In conclusion, breast cancer patients reported only minor dietary changes from 12 months pre-surgery and during the 12 months post-surgery.
Highlights
Lifestyle factors such as diet may play a role in breast cancer prognosis
If there was a change in intake of alcohol in grams, we presented the change in E%
In the present study among women diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer, patients were on average aged 55·3 years at diagnosis with a mean BMI of 25·5 kg/m2
Summary
Lifestyle factors such as diet may play a role in breast cancer prognosis. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has suggested that consuming foods with fibre and soya and having a lower intake of fat, SFA, may improve breast cancer survival. The WCRF recommends that cancer survivors, in general, follow recommendations for cancer prevention[2,3] This includes maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active, having a healthy diet with more grains, fruits, vegetables and beans, limiting the intake of salt, red and processed meat and avoiding alcohol and high-energy and sugary foods and drinks. Self-reported dietary changes after being diagnosed with breast cancer have often been reported as healthy changes in line with the WCRF recommendations[6,7,8,9,11]. The main aim of the present study was to study dietary changes among breast cancer patients from 12 months pre-surgery before any treatment, and over the 12 months post-surgery with a focus on nutrients and food groups highlighted in the recommendations for cancer prevention by WCRF. We compared dietary changes between those who answered yes and those who answered no to the following question: ‘Have you made any significant changes to your dietary habits in the last year?’
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