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Adolescent diet and risk of breast cancer

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Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the components of adolescent diet that may influence risk of breast cancer as an adult. Methods: Retrospective cohort study among 47,355 participants in the Nurses Health Study II who answered a 131-item food frequency questionnaire about diet during high school. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals among incident cases of breast cancer between 1989 (inception of the study) and 1998 (when high school diet was assessed). Results: Intakes of fat and fiber were not significantly related to risk of breast cancer in multivariate analysis, but increased intake of vegetable fat (Q 5 versus Q 1 multivariate RR = 0.58, 95% CI (0.38–0.86); test for trend p = 0.005) and vitamin E (Q 5 versus Q 1 multivariate RR = 0.61, 95% CI (0.42–0.89); test for trend p = 0.003) were associated with a lower risk. A higher dietary glycemic index (Q 5 versus Q 1 multivariate RR = 1.47, 95% CI (1.04–2.08); test for trend p = 0.01) was associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Conclusions: The apparent protective effects of vegetable fat and vitamin E and adverse effect of high glycemic foods on risk of breast cancer need confirmation in prospective analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA

    A. Lindsay Frazier

  2. Channing Laboratory, 181, Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    A. Lindsay Frazier, Lisa Li, Eunyong Cho, Walter C. Willett & Graham A. Colditz

  3. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, USA

    Walter C. Willett

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, USA

    Walter C. Willett & Graham A. Colditz

Authors
  1. A. Lindsay Frazier
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  2. Lisa Li
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  3. Eunyong Cho
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  4. Walter C. Willett
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  5. Graham A. Colditz
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Correspondence to A. Lindsay Frazier.

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Frazier, A.L., Li, L., Cho, E. et al. Adolescent diet and risk of breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control 15, 73–82 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CACO.0000016617.57120.df

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