Association between dietary fat and breast cancer in Puerto Rican postmenopausal women attending a breast cancer clinic

OBJECTIVE: A pilot case-control study was conducted to examine the possible association between dietary fat intake and the development of postmenopausal breast cancer. BACKGROUND: Studies regarding the association between dietary fat intake and the development of breast cancer among postmenopausal women are lacking in Puerto Rico. METHODS: Eighteen cases and eighteen controls were interviewed to obtain sociodemographic information, medical history and dietary fat intake. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire containing 67 food items was used to collect the dietary information. RESULTS: Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and their 95 per cent confidence intervals (CI) showed a non-significant positive association for total fat intake and the development of postmenopausal breast cancer (OR = 1.57; 95 per cent CI: 0.42-5.90, p = 0.25). The same non significant positive association was found for saturated fat intake (OR = 1.57; 95 per cent CI: 0.42-5.90, p = 0.25). Polyunsaturated fat (OR = 1.25; 95 per cent CI: 0.34-4.64, p = 0.37) and monounsaturated fat (OR = 1.25; 95 per cent CI: 0.34-4.64, p = 0.37) were also positively associated with postmenopausal breast cancer, although the associations were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with other case-control studies that have shown non-significant positive associations between total fat and the different components of dietary fat and postmenopausal breast cancer.

Dietary fat and breast cancer: a brief update on current knowledge

Descriptive epidemiologic data suggest a relationship between consumption of high fat diets and breast cancer; although these data can be potentially confounded by other causative exposures. Results of published case-control and cohort studies are inconclusive. Nevertheless, dietary fat significantly affects mammary tumorigenesis in mice and rats in laboratory experiments. We will review current epidemiologic and animal studies, explain the possible mechanisms of how dietary fat may affect breast cancer, and provide preliminary dietary recommendations.