04.24.07
Indication: Breast cancer (postmenopausal women)
Source:
J Natl Can Inst, 2007;99(6):475-486.Research: Investigators set out to prospectively examine associations between the risk of postmenopausal invasive breast cancer and dietary intakes of four plant lignans (pinoresinol, lariciresinol, secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol) and estimated exposure to two enterolignans (enterodiol and enterolactone). These associations were measured in over 58,000 French women using a self-administered diet history questionnaire; none of these women were taking soy isoflavone supplements. Analyses were further stratified by the combined estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PR) status of the tumors. Statistical tests were two-sided.
Results: During 383,425 person-years of follow-up (median follow-up 7.7 years), 1469 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed. Compared with women in the lowest intake quartiles, those in the highest quartile of total lignan intake (>1395 microg/day) had a reduced risk of breast cancer, as did those in the highest quartile of lariciresinol intake. This lead researchers to conclude that high dietary intakes of plant lignans and high exposure to enterolignans were associated with reduced risks of ER- and PR-positive postmenopausal breast cancer in a Western population that does not consume a diet rich in soy.