title: Meat and dairy food consumption and breast cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More than 20 studies have investigated the relation between meat and dairy food consumption and breast cancer risk with conflicting results. Our objective was to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with meat and dairy food consumption and to assess whether non-dietary risk factors modify the relation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We combined the primary data from eight prospective cohort studies from North America and Western Europe with at least 200 incident breast cancer cases, assessment of usual food and nutrient intakes, and a validation study of the dietary assessment instrument. The pooled database included 351,041 women, 7379 of whom were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during up to 15 years of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found no significant association between intakes of total meat, red meat, white meat, total dairy fluids, or total dairy solids and breast cancer risk. Categorical analyses suggested a J-shaped association for egg consumption where, compared to women who did not eat eggs, breast cancer risk was slightly decreased among women who consumed < 2 eggs per week but slightly increased among women who consumed > or = 1 egg per day.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found no significant associations between intake of meat or dairy products and risk of breast cancer. An inconsistent relation between egg consumption and risk of breast cancer merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115-6096, USA. stacey.missmer@channing.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Missmer
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Smith-Warner
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spiegelman
authors.forename: Shiaw-Shyuan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yaun
authors.forename: Hans-Olov
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: W Lawrence
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Beeson
authors.forename: Piet A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van den Brandt
authors.forename: Gary E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Jo L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Freudenheim
authors.forename: R Alexandra
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Goldbohm
authors.forename: Saxon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Kushi
authors.forename: Anthony B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rohan
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Speizer
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toniolo
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolk
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003611:Dairy Products; D004435:Eating; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D004531:Eggs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat; D008892:Milk; D012307:Risk Factors