Meat, eggs, dairy products, and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.
BACKGROUND
A Western diet is associated with breast cancer risk.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated the relation of meat, egg, and dairy product consumption with breast cancer risk by using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).


METHODS
Between 1992 and 2003, information on diet was collected from 319,826 women. Disease hazard ratios were estimated with multivariate Cox proportional hazard models.


RESULTS
Breast cancer cases (n = 7119) were observed during 8.8 y (median) of follow-up. No consistent association was found between breast cancer risk and the consumption of any of the food groups under study, when analyzed by both categorical and continuous exposure variable models. High processed meat consumption was associated with a modest increase in breast cancer risk in the categorical model (hazard ratio: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.20; highest compared with lowest quintile: P for trend = 0.07). Subgroup analyses suggested an association with butter consumption, limited to premenopausal women (hazard ratio: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.53; highest compared with lowest quintile: P for trend = 0.21). Between-country heterogeneity was found for red meat (Q statistic = 18.03; P = 0.05) and was significantly explained (P = 0.023) by the proportion of meat cooked at high temperature.


CONCLUSIONS
We have not consistently identified intakes of meat, eggs, or dairy products as risk factors for breast cancer. Future studies should investigate the possible role of high-temperature cooking in the relation of red meat intake with breast cancer risk.
Pala
Valeria
V
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
Krogh
Vittorio
V
Berrino
Franco
F
Sieri
Sabina
S
Grioni
Sara
S
Tjønneland
Anne
A
Olsen
Anja
A
Jakobsen
Marianne Uhre
MU
Overvad
Kim
K
Clavel-Chapelon
Françoise
F
Boutron-Ruault
Marie-Christine
MC
Romieu
Isabelle
I
Linseisen
Jakob
J
Rohrmann
Sabine
S
Boeing
Heiner
H
Steffen
Annika
A
Trichopoulou
Antonia
A
Benetou
Vassiliki
V
Naska
Androniki
A
Vineis
Paolo
P
Tumino
Rosario
R
Panico
Salvatore
S
Masala
Giovanna
G
Agnoli
Claudia
C
Engeset
Dagrun
D
Skeie
Guri
G
Lund
Eiliv
E
Ardanaz
Eva
E
Navarro
Carmen
C
Sánchez
Maria-José
MJ
Amiano
Pilar
P
Svatetz
Carlos Alberto Gonzalez
CA
Rodriguez
Laudina
L
Wirfält
Elisabet
E
Manjer
Jonas
J
Lenner
Per
P
Hallmans
Göran
G
Peeters
Petra H M
PH
van Gils
Carla H
CH
Bueno-de-Mesquita
H Bas
HB
van Duijnhoven
Fränzel J B
FJ
Key
Timothy J
TJ
Spencer
Elizabeth
E
Bingham
Sheila
S
Khaw
Kay-Tee
KT
Ferrari
Pietro
P
Byrnes
Graham
G
Rinaldi
Sabina
S
Norat
Teresa
T
Michaud
Dominique S
DS
Riboli
Elio
E
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002079:Butter / Q000009:adverse effects; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects; D004531:Eggs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008460:Meat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D004041:Dietary Fats; D002079:Butter