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

ABSTRACT

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.