Low Fat Diet and Breast Cancer

Could eating a low fat diet help prevent the recurrence of breast cancer? One study, reported at the 41st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, suggests it might.

The study involved more than 2,400 post-menopausal women who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer. The women were divided into two groups. The first group was randomly chosen to follow a low fat diet, consuming about 33 grams of fat a day. The second group followed a normal diet, eating around 51 grams of fat a day. Although each group worked with a dietitian, only the low fat group had regular consultations.

Five years on, researchers found that the women in the low fat group reduced their risk of recurrence by 24%. But surprisingly, women in the low fat group whose tumors had been estrogen-negative, lowered their risk of recurrence by 42%. Estrogen-negative tumors are considered harder to treat since they can’t respond to hormone-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen. Since one-third of post-menopausal women develop estrogen-negative breast cancer, these findings are promising, though clearly more trials involving larger groups of women are needed.

For more information on the link between diet and cancer, visit the American Institute for Cancer Research.