Olive oil consumption and risk of breast cancer in the Canary Islands: a population-based case-control study.
BACKGROUND
Breast cancer mortality and incidence rates in the Canary Islands, and particularly in Gran Canaria, are higher than those in the rest of Spain.


OBJECTIVE
A case-control study was designed to assess the role of differential fatty acid intakes and olive oil consumption on breast cancer risk in the Canary Islands. The study was conducted between 1999 and 2001, including a total of 755 women: 291 incident cases with confirmed breast cancer and 464 controls randomly selected from the Canary Island Nutrition Survey (ENCA). A semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire was completed and potential confounders were adjusted using unconditional logistic regression.


RESULTS
Compared to the first quintile of intake, the highest quintile of monounsaturated fat intake was significantly related to a lower risk of breast cancer (odds ratio = 0.52; 95% CI 0.30-0.92). Regarding olive oil, the odds ratio for women in the three upper quintiles of consumption (> or =8.8 g/day) was 0.27 (95% CI 0.17-0.42).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results support the protective role of olive oil consumption on breast cancer among Canaries women.
García-Segovia
Purificación
P
Department of Clinical Science, University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria, Spain. lserra@dcc.ulpgc.es
Sánchez-Villegas
Almudena
A
Doreste
Jorge
J
Santana
Francisco
F
Serra-Majem
Lluís
L
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016017:Odds Ratio; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils