Mediterranean Diet and Breast Density in the Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study

Mediterranean populations’ lower breast cancer incidence has been attributed to a traditional Mediterranean diet, but few studies have quantified Mediterranean dietary pattern intake in relation to breast cancer. We examined the association of a Mediterranean diet scale (MDS) with mammographic breast density as a surrogate marker for breast cancer risk. Participants completed a dietary questionnaire and provided screening mammograms for breast density assessment using a computer-assisted method. Among 1,286 women, MDS was not clearly associated with percent density in multivariate linear regression analyses. Because of previous work suggesting dietary effects limited to smokers, we conducted stratified analyses and found MDS and percent density to be significantly, inversely associated among current smokers (β = –1.68, P = 0.002) but not among nonsmokers (β = –0.08, P = 0.72; P for interaction = 0.008). Our results confirm a previous suggestion that selected dietary patterns may be protective primarily in the presence of procarcinogenic compounds such as those found in tobacco smoke

Dietary intake and breast density in high-risk women: a cross-sectional study

Background Women with a family history of breast cancer may be at higher risk for breast cancer, but few previous studies evaluating diet and breast cancer have focused on such women. The objective of the present study was to determine whether diet, a modifiable risk factor, is related to breast density among women at high genetic risk for breast cancer. Methods Women with at least one first-degree or second-degree relative with breast cancer or ovarian cancer participating in the Fox Chase Cancer Center Family Risk Assessment Program completed health history and food frequency questionnaires and received standard screening mammograms. Cranial–caudal mammographic images were classified into the four Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System categories ranging from \u27entirely fatty\u27 to \u27extremely dense\u27. Logistic regression analysis using proportional odds models for polychotomous outcomes provided estimates of odds ratios for having a higher category versus a lower category of breast density. Results Among 157 high-risk women, breast density was inversely associated with vitamin D intake (odds ratio for third tertile versus first tertile, 0.5; 95% confidence interval, 0.2–1.0). In contrast, intakes above the median level for protein (odds ratio, 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.3–6.9) and above the median level for animal protein (odds ratio, 4.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.8–10.3) were associated with higher breast density, but only among women whose family history did not reflect a known familial cancer syndrome or a breast cancer predisposition gene. Conclusion For women with a strong family history that was not associated with known cancer syndromes, dietary factors may be associated with breast density, a strong predictor of breast cancer risk. Since women with strong family history are often very motivated to change their lifestyle habits, further studies are needed to confirm whether changes in diet will change the breast density and the subsequent onset of breast cancer in these women

Dietary Patterns and Breast Density in the Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study

Objective Whether dietary patterns, rather than single foods or nutrients, are associated with breast density is not known. We investigated this in the Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study. Methods Participants completed a 153-item food frequency questionnaire and provided screening mammograms for breast density assessment using a computer-assisted method. We used multivariate linear regression to quantify dietary pattern–breast density associations. Results Among 3,147 women with dietary information, three dietary patterns emerged from principal components analysis: a fruit–vegetable–cereal pattern, a salad–sauce–pasta/ grain pattern, and a meat–starch pattern. Among 1,286 women with breast density estimates, the fruit–vegetable–cereal and salad–sauce–pasta/grain patterns were inversely associated with percent breast density only in stratified analyses. The fruit–vegetable–cereal pattern was inversely associated with breast density among premenopausal women (b = -0.13, p = 0.09; interaction p = 0.009) and current smokers, (b = -0.30, p = 0.02; interaction p = 0.05), while the salad–sauce–pasta/grain was inversely associated with breast density among current smokers (b = -0.27, p = 0.06; interaction p = 0.006). Conclusion Overall our results do not provide strong evidence for associations of dietary patterns with breast density. Suggestive inverse associations for the fruit–vegetable– cereal and salad–sauce–pasta/grain dietary patterns among smokers are consistent with previous reports and leave open the possibility that some dietary patterns influence breast density in population subsets. Nevertheless, these findings require confirmation, and their underlying reasons have yet to be clarified