Abstract
PurposeNut intake has been associated with reduced mortality and risk of cardiovascular diseases, but there is only limited evidence on cancer. We investigated the relationship between nut intake and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) subtypes.MethodsIn The Netherlands Cohort Study, 62,573 women aged 55–69 years provided information on dietary and lifestyle habits in 1986. After 20.3 years of follow-up, 2,321 incident breast cancer cases and 1,665 subcohort members were eligible for multivariate case-cohort analyses.ResultsTotal nut intake was significantly inversely related to ER negative (ER −) breast cancer risk, with HR 0.55 (95% CI 0.33–0.93) for those consuming at least 10 g nuts/day versus non-consumers (p trend = 0.025). There were no significant inverse associations with ER + or total breast cancer. While there was no variation between PR subtypes, the ER–PR- subtype was also significantly inversely associated with nut intake, with HR 0.53 (95% CI 0.29–0.99), p trend = 0.037. Intake of peanuts and tree nuts separately was also inversely related to ER − breast cancer subtypes, while no associations were found with peanut butter intake.ConclusionsOur findings suggest an inverse association between nut intake and ER − breast cancer, and no association with total or hormone receptor-positive subtypes.
Highlights
Nut intake has been associated with reduced risk of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes [1]
We investigated the association between intakes of total nuts, tree nuts, peanuts, and peanut butter, and postmenopausal breast cancer risk, overall and stratified by hormone receptor status, in The Netherlands Cohort Study (NLCS)
ER + breast cancer showed no associations, but ER − breast cancer was significantly inversely associated with total nut intake
Summary
Nut intake has been associated with reduced risk of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes [1]. Apart from CVD, interest is growing in mortality and other health effects as well, stimulated by the PREDIMED trial showing effects of Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts or olive oil on CVD. One recent large population-based case–control study showed a significant inverse association between total nut intake in adolescent years and breast cancer (OR 0.76), with a stronger association for postmenopausal than premenopausal breast cancer [8]. Recent evidence from a randomized controlled trial on primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases indicated a potentially strong protective effect of Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts on the risk of postmenopausal
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