The Mediterranean Dietary Pattern and Breast Cancer Risk in Greek-Cypriot Women: a Case-control Study
Journal
BMC Cancer
Date Issued
March 23, 2012
DOI
10.1186/1471-2407-12-113
Abstract
Background: Diet has long been suspected to impact on breast cancer risk. In this study we evaluated whether
the degree of adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern modifies breast cancer risk amongst Greek-Cypriot
women.
Methods: Subjects included 935 cases and 817 controls, all participating in the MASTOS case-control study in
Cyprus. The study was approved by the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee. Information on dietary intakes was
collected using an interviewer administered 32-item Food Frequency Questionnaire. Information on demographic,
anthropometric, lifestyle, and other confounding factors was also collected. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet
pattern was assessed using two a-priory defined diet scores. In addition, dietary patterns specific to our population
were derived using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Logistic regression models were used to assess the
association between the dietary patters and breast cancer risk.
Results: There was no association with breast cancer risk for either score, however, higher consumptions of
vegetables, fish and olive oil, were independently associated with decreased risk. In addition, the PCA derived
component which included vegetables, fruit, fish and legumes was shown to significantly reduce risk of breast
cancer (ORs across quartiles of increasing levels of consumption: 0.89 95%CI: 0.65-1.22, 0.64 95%CI: 0.47-0.88, 0.67 95%CI: 0.49-0.92, P trend < 0.0001), even after adjustment for relevant confounders.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that adherence to a diet pattern rich in vegetables, fish, legumes and olive oil
may favorably influence the risk of breast cancer. This study is the first investigation of dietary effects on breast
cancer risk in Cyprus, a country whose population has traditionally adhered to the Mediterranean diet.
the degree of adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern modifies breast cancer risk amongst Greek-Cypriot
women.
Methods: Subjects included 935 cases and 817 controls, all participating in the MASTOS case-control study in
Cyprus. The study was approved by the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee. Information on dietary intakes was
collected using an interviewer administered 32-item Food Frequency Questionnaire. Information on demographic,
anthropometric, lifestyle, and other confounding factors was also collected. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet
pattern was assessed using two a-priory defined diet scores. In addition, dietary patterns specific to our population
were derived using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Logistic regression models were used to assess the
association between the dietary patters and breast cancer risk.
Results: There was no association with breast cancer risk for either score, however, higher consumptions of
vegetables, fish and olive oil, were independently associated with decreased risk. In addition, the PCA derived
component which included vegetables, fruit, fish and legumes was shown to significantly reduce risk of breast
cancer (ORs across quartiles of increasing levels of consumption: 0.89 95%CI: 0.65-1.22, 0.64 95%CI: 0.47-0.88, 0.67 95%CI: 0.49-0.92, P trend < 0.0001), even after adjustment for relevant confounders.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that adherence to a diet pattern rich in vegetables, fish, legumes and olive oil
may favorably influence the risk of breast cancer. This study is the first investigation of dietary effects on breast
cancer risk in Cyprus, a country whose population has traditionally adhered to the Mediterranean diet.
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
NickMid_2012.pdf
Size
247.53 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
dbcb2affbcecfe64c443a46f2171bad5