Erratum: Associations between Dietary Allium Vegetables and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Hospital-Based Matched Case-Control Study / 한국유방암학회지

This article was initially published on the Journal of Breast Cancer with a misspelled author name and affiliation of the seventh author.

Associations between Dietary Allium Vegetables and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Hospital-Based Matched Case-Control Study / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: The protective effect of Allium vegetables against carcinogenesis has been reported in experimental studies particularly focusing on the gut. Therefore, we conducted a hospital-based matched case-control study to explore the association between dietary Allium consumption and risk of breast cancer among Iranian women in northwest Iran. METHODS: A validated, quantitative, food frequency questionnaire was completed in 285 women (aged 25–65 years old) newly diagnosed with histopathologically confirmed breast cancer (grade II, III or clinical stage II, III) in Tabriz, northwest Iran, and the completed questionnaires were included in an age- and regional-matched hospital based-control study. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using conditional logistic regression models. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed that there was a negative association between the consumption of raw onion and risk of breast cancer after adjustment for covariates (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.40–1.00); however, this association was insignificant. On the other hand, there was a positive association between consumption of cooked onion and risk of breast cancer, after adjustment for covariates (OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.02–2.32). However, reduced risk of breast cancer was associated with higher consumption of garlic and leek with adjusted ORs of 0.41 (95% CI, 0.20–0.83) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.15–0.51), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that high consumption of certain Allium vegetables, in particular garlic and leek, may reduce the risk of breast cancer, while high consumption of cooked onion may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

[Validation of food frequency questionnaire to assess folate intake status in breast cancer patients]

Inadequate folate intake could be associated with increased breast cancer risk. The aim of the present study was to assess the folate intake by designed Food Frequency Questionnaire [FFQ] using plasma folate concentration. This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the validity of the semi-quantitative FFQ [136 items] in 152 women with confirmed breast malignancy aged between 35 - 85 years old.. Folate plasma level was assessed by means of automated electrochemiluminescence. The Pearson and partial correlation coefficients were performed between the plasma level of folate and crude, total and energy-adjusted [residual] folate intakes. Area under ROC curve [AUC], sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and odds ratio were fulfilled in two models in order to achieve validity assessment. The folate plasma level was significantly correlated with total intake of vegetables, bread and cereal groups [p=0.001] and also with total intake of fruits [p=0.001] and dairy products [p=0.026]. After adjusting for confounders, the folate plasma levels were correlated significantly with daily [beta=0.39], and residual [beta=0.41] folate intake levels [p=0.001]. The area under ROC curves in model I [folate plasma level <5.9 ng/ml] was 0.74 [95%CI=0.63-0.85] and for model II [folate plasma level <10.0 ng/ml] was estimated as 0.61[95%CI= 0.51- 0.71]. Model I indicated more appropriate predictive value [p=0.001] of folate intake assessment via FFQ. The results of this study showed that FFQ described in this study could be a valid and appropriate tool for assessing folate intake status in dietary content of breast cancer patients and also could be representative and valid for assessing the folate rich-food intake status