Breast
Low-Fat Diet May Lower Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence
By American Society of Clinical Oncology
May 17, 2005, 01:54

Researchers from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study have found for the first time that a dietary intervention to reduce fat intake improves relapse-free survival by 24% in postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer compared with women following a standard diet. The women in the study had all undergone surgery to remove their tumors, and were receiving standard follow-up care.

"This study may well represent the first lifestyle change � namely, lowering dietary fat intake � that can have a favorable effect on breast cancer outcome," said Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and the study's lead author. The U.S.-based study was a prospective randomized phase III trial of patients from 37 states.

Researchers compared the incidence of breast cancer recurrence � including local/regional and distant recurrences and any new cancers in the opposite breast � between 975 postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer who consumed a low-fat diet (averaging 33.3 g of fat daily) and 1,462 early-stage breast cancer patients who followed a standard diet (averaging 51.3 g of fat/day). The women on the low-fat diet also received eight biweekly nutrition counseling sessions, as well as ongoing counseling with a nutritionist every three months. The study began in 1994, enrolling patients ages 48 to 79. Results were reported after a median of five years of follow-up.

At the end of the follow-up period, 9.8% of the women on the low-fat diet experienced a recurrence of their cancer, compared with 12.4% of those on the standard diet. Although this study was primarily designed to assess the effect of a low-fat dietary intervention on women with breast cancer overall, a preliminary sub-set analysis suggests that the risk reduction was greater for women with estrogen receptor-negative cancers, which is considered a marker for poorer prognosis. These women on the low-fat diet had a 42% lower risk of recurrence than those following a standard diet. Women with estrogen receptor-positive cancers experienced a 15% risk reduction, which was not statistically significant.

Further studies of women with ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancers are needed to test hypotheses regarding the relative benefit of a low-fat diet based on estrogen receptor status.

"If these results are confirmed in additional trials, reduction of dietary fat intake could be considered part of the management of breast cancer in postmenopausal women," concluded Dr. Chlebowski. "Patients would then have an additional option within their control for reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence."


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