Environmental oestrogens and breast cancer prevention

Can limiting exposure to environmental estrogens help prevent breast cancer?


This is a breast cancer prevention study from The University of Reading. This study discusses environmental compounds with estrogenic activity. The researchers state that environmental estrogens can cause estrogenic responses even at very low concentrations such as those found in the breast.

Terms used in this study: environmental estrogens, assayable estrogenic responses, upper outer quadrant of the breast.

The authors conclude that if estrogenic chemicals in consumer products increase the risk of breast cancer then prevention is possible

Environmental oestrogens and breast cancer: evidence for combined involvement of dietary, household and cosmetic xenoestrogens. - Anticancer Res. 2010 Mar;30(3):815-27.

Breast Cancer and Fat Intake

Does fat cause breast cancer?


This is a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. This study evaluated role of fat intake in the risk of breast cancer. The researchers based their finding on Women's Health Initiative Fat Reduction Trial.

Terms used in this study: dietary intervention, postmenopausal breast cancer.

The authors conclude that the minimizing weight gain during midlife or weight loss after menopause reduces the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial: a post-mortem. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Mar;114(1):1-6.

Vegetarian diet or fish diet and the risk of breast cancer

Does a vegetarian diet or a fish diet reduce the risk of breast cancer?

In this study from the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, four common dietary patterns were assessed at baseline by using a 217-item food frequency questionnaire. The included 35,372 women aged between 35 and 69 years.

Terms mentioned in this study: postmenopausal, dietary pattern, UK Women's Cohort Study (UKWCS).

The authors conclude that a fish diet was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women; but not for a vegetarian diet.

Common dietary patterns and risk of breast cancer: analysis from the United Kingdom Women's Cohort Study.
Nutr Cancer. 2010 Apr;62(3):300-6.