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Breast Cancer

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Alternative News:

• Sulforaphane Suppresses MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Growth via miR-19/PTEN Axis to Antagonize the Effect of Butyl Benzyl Phthalate - Nutr Cancer 2022 Dec 21 - "Collectively, these results demonstrated, for the first time, that SFN regulates the miR-19/PTEN axis to exert protective effects against BBP-mediated breast cancer promotion, suggesting a new potential role for SFN (or SFN-rich foods) in phthalate antagonism" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.
• Curcumol inhibits breast cancer growth via NCL/ERα36 and the PI3K/AKT pathway - Food Funct 2022 Dec 20 - "Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy worldwide. ERα36 (ERα66 variant) is expressed in many breast cancer cells, especially highly expressed in tamoxifen (TAM)-resistant cell lines and triple-negative breast cancer, and our previous work revealed that nucleolin (NCL) is a protein target of curcumol ... Curcumol reduced the proliferation of breast cancer cells by targeting NCL/ERα36 and inactivating the PI3K/AKT pathway" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol reverses TGF-β1-mediated invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells via the SIRT3/AMPK/autophagy signal axis - Phytother Res 2022 Sep 9 - "Taken together, our study provided novel insight into the anticancer effects of Resv and revealed that targeting the SIRT3/AMPK/autophagy pathway can serve as a new therapeutic target against breast cancer" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Association of dietary intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women - Menopause 2022 Jul 26 - "Higher intake of marine n-3 PUFAs and total n-3 PUFAs was associated with lower risk of breast cancer, with adjusted OR quartile 4 v.1 (95% confidence intervals) of 0.68 (0.55-0.84) and 0.56 (0.42-0.75), respectively. Dietary a-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid were also inversely associated with breast cancer risk, with adjusted ORs (95% confidence intervals) of 0.51 (0.38-0.70), 0.68 (0.55-0.84), 0.68 (0.55-0.85), and 0.76 (0.61-0.94), respectively. In stratified analyses, these inverse associations between risk and dietary n-3 PUFAs were more evident among premenopausal women and women with ER+, PR+ and ER+PR+ tumors. A decreased risk of breast cancer was significantly associated with increasing n-3 PUFA intake in obese/overweight women, but not in women of normal weight. There was a significant interaction between linoleic acid and marine n-3 PUFAs ... High intake of n-3 PUFAs and n-3 PUFA subtypes was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, especially among premenopausal women and women with ER+ and/or PR+ subtype breast cancer" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D: an essential adjuvant therapeutic agent in breast cancer - J Int Med Res 2022 Jul - "Low serum levels of vitamin D have been reported as a risk factor for breast cancer. This narrative review provides an update on the impact of vitamin D on hormone receptors, notably estrogen receptor subunits, and gives insights on possible therapeutic interventions to overcome breast cancer. In addition, evidence that supports the beneficial use of vitamin D as adjuvant treatment of breast cancer is summarized. Vitamin D deficiency is significantly widespread in patients with triple-negative tumors. Several studies have observed a possible modulatory effect of vitamin D or its analogues on the expression of different hormone receptors in breast cancer and increased sensitivity to tamoxifen. Vitamin D possesses anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in patients with breast cancer, and the mechanism of action of vitamin D in patients with breast cancer is discussed" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Higher efficacy of resveratrol against advanced breast cancer organoids: A comparison with that of clinically relevant drugs - Phytother Res 2022 Jun 1 - "The lack of reliable drugs is a therapeutic challenge of advanced breast cancers (ABCs). Resveratrol (Res) exerts inhibitory effects on breast cancer cell lines and animal models, while its efficacy against individual breast cancer cases remains unknown. This study aims to use ABC-derived organoids (ABCOs) as the ex vivo therapeutic platform to clarify the effectiveness of resveratrol against different ABC subtypes ... We demonstrate for the first time the higher efficacy and broader spectrum of Res against different subtypes of ABCOs in comparison with that of conventional antibreast cancer drugs, providing an alternative approach for better management of ABCs" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Study suggests association between consuming artificial sweeteners and increased cancer risk - Science Daily, 3/24/22 - "enrollees consuming larger quantities of artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K, had higher risk of overall cancer compared to non-consumers (hazard ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.25). Higher risks were observed for breast cancer and obesity-related cancers"
• Effect of turmeric supplementation on the pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel in breast cancer patients: A study with population pharmacokinetics approach - Phytother Res 2022 Feb 18 - "Turmeric is one of the most used herbal supplements among cancer patients. It reportedly modulates the function of CYP450 enzymes and drug transporters. This study investigates the effect of turmeric on the pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel in breast cancer patients ... turmeric at the recommended dose can be combined safely with paclitaxel" - See turmeric extract at Amazon.com.
• Could Probiotics Reduce 'Chemo Brain' in Breast Cancer Patients? - Medscape, 1/18/22 - "The finding that probiotic treatment given alongside chemotherapy is sufficient to, in part, protect against memory disturbances in these patients suggests that there may be some neuroprotection conferred by the probiotic treatment" - See probiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
• Quercetin attenuates the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide regimen and potentiates its chemotherapeutic effect against triple-negative breast cancer - Phytother Res 2021 Dec 23 - "Doxorubicin combined with cyclophosphamide (AC) is the most commonly used regimen for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) chemotherapy; however, its clinical application is severely limited by its serious adverse effect on cardiomyocytes. The cardiotoxicity of AC is mainly the result of oxidative stress caused by the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, and it also involves multiple signaling pathways. Quercetin (Que) has been proven to possess strong antioxidant activity, and therefore we investigated whether it had potential protective effect against AC-induced cardiotoxicity ... Que could enhance the antitumor activity of AC by inhibiting ROS accumulation and ERK1/2 pathway in TNBC cells. In addition, our in vivo studies further confirmed that Que could enhance the chemotherapeutic effect of AC against TNBC while it reduced the injury of cardiotoxicity induced by AC. Therefore, Que could be used as a novel agent for the treatment of cardiotoxicity induced by AC regimen in TNBC chemotherapy" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 Supplements Improve Sleep, Mood in Breast Cancer Patients on Hormone Therapy - Medscape, 12/28/21 - "Hormone therapy in patients with breast cancer can lead to mood and sleep disorders. A new randomized controlled trial shows that omega-3 supplementation improves these symptoms. After 4 weeks of treatment, patients who received omega-3 reported better sleep, less depression, and better mood outcomes than those who received placebo ... Omega-3 supplementation has neuroprotective effects and improved brain function and mood in rats, and a 2019 review suggested the evidence is strong enough to warrant clinical studies" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.
• Dietary Piperine Suppresses Obesity-Associated Breast Cancer Growth and Metastasis by Regulating the miR-181c-3p/ PPARα Axis - J Agric Food Chem 2021 Dec 14 - "piperine represents a potential candidate for further development as an anticancer agent for treating obesity-associated breast cancer" - See piperine extract at Amazon.com.
• Dietary carbohydrate quality and risk of breast cancer among women - Nutr J 2021 Nov 26 - "A few studies have examined the relationship between carbohydrate quality index (CQI) and risk of breast cancer (BC) among women in Middle Eastern countries. We studied the associations between carbohydrate quality index and the risk of BC in overall and by menopausal status ... Mean GI and GL of participants were totally 57.5 ± 7.2 and 245.7 ± 64.7, respectively. A trend toward significant association was seen between GI and odds of BC in the whole population; such that after stratifying analysis by menopausal status, premenopausal women in the highest quartile of GI were 1.85 times higher likely to have BC than those in the lowest quartile (95% CI: 1.12, 3.07, P = 0.01). We found that women with the greatest CQI had lower odds for BC, compared with those with the lowest CQI (0.63; 95% CI: 0.43-0.94, P = 0.03). This association was remained after stratifying analysis by menopausal status in premenopausal (0.55 ... We found that GI was directly and CQI inversely associated with odds of BC"
• Bisdemethoxycurcumin Promotes Apoptosis and Inhibits the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition through the Inhibition of the G-Protein-Coupled Receptor 161/Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Signaling Pathway in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells - J Agric Food Chem 2021 Nov 23 - "Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world and lacks an effective targeted therapy. G-protein-coupled receptor 161 (GPR161) has been demonstrated to perform the functional regulations on TNBC progression and might be a potential new target for TNBC therapy ... bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) ... BDMC significantly inhibited TNBC invasion. The combination treatment of BDMC and rapamycin enhanced the inhibition of TNBC proliferation and metastasis through increasing the blockage of mTOR activation. Furthermore, this study also observed that BDMC activated the caspase 3/9 signaling pathway to induce TNBC apoptosis. Therefore, BDMC could be applicable to anticancer therapy, especially targeting on the GPR161-driven cancer type" - See bisdemethoxycurcumin at Amazon.com.
  • Turmeric, Curcuminoids, And Curcumin Defined - integrativepro - "Although turmeric is thought to possess therapeutic properties, the curcuminoids complex comprises only 2.5-6% of the rhizome of tumeric. Of that, curcumin is approximately 77% of the curcuminoid content.3 To state this differently, it is understood that curcumin is the most abundant curcuminoid. It is also the most studied curcuminoid. Curcuminoids are only a small fraction of the turmeric rhizome and the rhizome is only one part of the plant. Unless explicitly stated that there is a different ratio of curcuminoids, it is assumed that the natural ratio of 77% curcumin, 17% demethoxycurcumin and 3% bisdemethoxycurcumin with variances is maintained in a commercial product"
• Statin use and incidence and mortality of breast and gynecology cancer: A cohort study using the National Health Insurance claims database - Int J Cancer 2021 Nov 9 - "breast and gynecologic cancers ... The aHRs for the association between the risk of each cancer and statin use were 0.88 (95% CI 0.79-0.97) for breast cancer and 0.83 (95% CI 0.67-0.99) for cervix uteri cancer. Statin use was associated with decreased breast cancer mortality (HR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.43-0.99) and total gynecologic cancer mortality (HR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.50-0.98). A dose-response relationship was only found for all-cancer mortality. Statin use for at least 6 months was significantly associated with a lower risk of breast and cervix uteri cancer incidence, and with lower mortality of breast and gynecologic cancers"
• Piperine for treating breast cancer: A review of molecular mechanisms, combination with anticancer drugs, and nanosystems - Phytother Res 2021 Sep 24 - "Piperine (PIP) is an alkaloid found primarily in Piper longum, and this natural compound has been shown to exert effects on proliferation and survival against various types of cancer. In particular, PIP has potent inhibitory effects on breast cancer (BC), the most prevalent type of cancer in women worldwide. PIP targets numerous signaling pathways associated with the therapy of BC cells through the following mechanisms: (a) induction of arrest of the cell cycle and apoptosis; (b) alteration of the signaling protein expression; (c) reduction in transcription factors; and (d) inhibition of tumor growth. BC cells have the ability to resist conventional drugs, so one of the strategies is the combination of PIP with other phytochemicals such as paclitaxel, thymoquinone, hesperidin, bee venom, tamoxifen, mitoxantrone, piperlongumin, and curcumin" - See piperine extract at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Statins may improve survival for triple-negative breast cancer patients - Science Daily, 8/3/21 - "Researchers found a 58% relative improvement in breast cancer-specific survival and a 30% relative improvement in overall survival with statin use. The median follow-up was 3.3 years for breast cancer-specific survival and 4.4 years for overall survival ... Researchers also found a statistically significant association between lipophilic statins (L-statin: simvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, pitavastatin) and improved overall survival ... We know that statins decrease breast cancer cell division and increase cell death"
• Quercetin Impairs HuR-Driven Progression and Migration of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Cells - Nutr Cancer 2021 Jul 19 - "the present results demonstrate that elevated HuR levels are associated with TNBC progression and relapse, and the ability of quercetin to inhibit cytoplasmic HuR protein provides a rationale for using it as an anticancer agent for the treatment of aggressive TNBCs" - See quercetin at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• The Effects of Synbiotic Supplementation on Serum Anti-Inflammatory Factors in the Survivors of Breast Cancer with Lymphedema following a Low Calorie Diet: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Clinical Trial - Nutr Cancer 2021 Jun 4 - "Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a treatment-related inflammatory complication in breast cancer survivors (BCSs). This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of synbiotic supplementation on serum concentrations of IL-10, TGF-β, VEGF, adiponectin, and edema volume among overweight or obese BCSs with lymphedema following a low-calorie diet (LCD) ... Synbiotic supplementation coupled with an LCD in a 10-week intervention had beneficial effects on increasing the serum TGF-β, IL-10, and adiponectin levels in women with BCRL. It also reduced arm lymphedema volume. Therefore, synbiotic supplementation can be effective in improving health status in BCRL patients" - See synbiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
• Healthy Levels of Vitamin D May Boost Breast Cancer Outcomes - WebMD, 6/10/21 - "compared to women deficient in the nutrient — women with sufficient levels of vitamin D had 27% lower odds of dying of any cause during the 10 years of follow-up, and 22% lower odds for death from breast cancer specifically" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• The flavonoid, kaempferol-3-O-apiofuranosyl-7-O-rhamnopyranosyl, as a potential therapeutic agent for breast cancer with a promoting effect on ovarian function - Phytother Res 2021 Apr 28 - "It is widely known that breast cancer cells eventually develop resistance to hormonal drugs and chemotherapies, which often compromise fertility. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the flavonoid, kaempferol-3-O-apiofuranosyl-7-O-rhamnopyranosyl (KARP), on 1) the viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and 2) ovarian function in rats. A dose-dependent decrease in MCF-7 cell survival was observed, and the IC50 value was found to be 48 μg/ml. Cells in the control group or those exposed to increasing concentrations of KARP experienced a similar generation of reactive oxygen species and induction of apoptosis. For the rats, estradiol levels correlated negatively to KARP dosages, although a recovery was obtained at administration of 30 mg/kg per day. Noteworthily, when compared against the control, this dosage led to significant increases in mRNA levels for CYP19, CYP17a, CCND2, GDF9, and INSL3 among the treatment groups, and ER1 and ER2 mRNA levels decreased in a dose-dependent manner. KARP shows great promise as an ideal therapy for breast cancer patients since it induced apoptosis and autophagy in cancerous cells without harming fertility in our animal model" - See kaempferol at Amazon.com.
• Disposition of Dietary Polyphenols in Breast Cancer Patients' Tumors, and their Associated Anticancer Activity: the Particular Case of Curcumin - Mol Nutr Food Res 2021 May 3 - "Curcuminoids could be coadjuvants that might help fight BC upon regular consumption" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.
• The Effects of Quercetin on the Apoptosis of Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231: A Systematic Review - Nutr Cancer 2021 Mar 7 - "This systematic review was performed with a focus on the effects of quercetin (QT) on the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 ... Of 15 studies that examined the effects of QT on MDA-MB-231 cells, 14 reports showed successful apoptosis. It is concluded that QT might be beneficial in the eliminating of breast cancer cells" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Sugar-Sweetened Soda Consumption and Total and Breast Cancer Mortality: The Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021 Mar 2 - "We assessed the relationship between sugar-sweetened soda and both all-cause and breast cancer mortality among women with incident, invasive breast cancer from the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study. Breast cancer cases were followed for a median of 18.7 years, with ascertainment of vital status via the National Death Index (NDI). Frequency of sugar-sweetened soda consumption was determined via a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Cox proportional hazards, adjusting for relevant variables, were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) ... Of the 927 breast cancer cases, 386 (54.7%) had died by the end of follow-up. Compared to never/rarely sugar-sweetened soda drinkers, consumption at {greater than or equal to} 5 times per week was associated with increased risk of both total (HR=1.62, 95% CI: 1.16, 2.26, p-trend<0.01) and breast cancer mortality (HR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.16, 2.94; p-trend<0.01). Risk of mortality was similarly increased among ER-positive, but not ER-negative patients, among women with BMI above the median, but not below the median; and among pre-, but not post-menopausal women for total mortality only"
• The Effect of Metformin vs Placebo on Sex Hormones in Canadian Cancer Trials Group MA.32 - J Natl Cancer Inst 2021 Feb 1 - "Metformin has been associated with lower breast cancer (BC) risk and improved outcomes in observational studies. Multiple biologic mechanisms have been proposed, including a recent report of altered sex hormones ... Metformin lowered estradiol levels, independent of BMI. This observation suggests a new metformin effect that has potential relevance to estrogen sensitive cancers" - Note: Metformin and also coffee, increase SHBG.  You might be able to counter it with Tongkat ali, boron, DHEA, vitamin D and/or fish oil.
• Metformin Could Help Prevent Some Breast Cancers - WebMD, 2/1/21 - "Compared to women without diabetes, risk for estrogen-positive breast cancer was 38% lower among women with type 2 diabetes who had used metformin for 10 years or more ... Metformin can improve insulin sensitivity and correct high insulin levels by reducing the amount of insulin and insulin-like growth factor circulating in the body, which may activate cell signals involved in cancer ... Metformin may also slow breast cancer growth by activating an enzyme called adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) ... It blocks a pathway involved in spread of cancer cells ... Metformin has been hailed as something of a miracle for many diseases other than diabetes. Some research has linked it to a longer life span, reduced risk of vision loss and improved fertility in men and women." - See metformin at ReliableRX.
• Statins may protect the heart from chemotherapy treatment of early breast cancer - Science Daily, 1/6/21 - "In the 666 pairs of women (median age 69) treated with anthracyclines, those taking statins were 55% less likely to be treated at the hospital for heart failure (1.2% vs. 2.9%). In the 390 pairs of women (median age 71) treated with trastuzumab, those taking statins were 54% less likely to be treated at the hospital for heart failure (2.7% vs. 3.7%), a trend that did not reach statistical significance. "Our findings support the idea that statins may be a potential intervention for preventing heart failure in patients receiving chemotherapy with anthracyclines and potentially trastuzumab,"" - See red yeast rice at Amazon.com.
• Gut microbe may promote breast cancers - Science Daily, 1/6/21 - "Our study suggests another risk factor, which is the microbiome. If your microbiome is perturbed, or if you harbor toxigenic microbes with oncogenic function, that could be considered an additional risk factor for breast cancer ... First, they performed a meta-analysis of clinical data looking at published studies comparing microbial composition among benign and malignant breast tumors and nipple aspirate fluids of breast cancer survivors and healthy volunteers. B. fragilis was consistently detected in all breast tissue samples as well as the nipple fluids of cancer survivors ... In the lab, the team gave the ETBF bacteria by mouth to a group of mice. First, it colonized the gut. Then, within three weeks, the mouse mammary tissue had observable changes usually present in ductal hyperplasia, a precancerous condition. In additional tests, investigators found that hyperplasia-like symptoms also appeared within two to three weeks of injecting ETBF bacteria directly to the teats of mice, and that cells exposed to the toxin always exhibited more rapid tumor progression and developed more aggressive tumors than cells not exposed to the toxin" - See probiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
• Is There an Association between β-Carotene and Breast Cancer? A Systematic Review on Breast Cancer Risk - Nutr Cancer 2020 Dec 26 - "The evidence from the included studies confirms that there is an association between β-carotenoids and breast cancer risk; the dietary intake of β-carotenoids may be beneficial in reducing the risk of developing breast cancer" - See mixed carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Anticancer Effect of Mountain Ginseng on Human Breast Cancer: Comparison with Farm-Cultivated Ginseng - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2020 Jul 25 - "MGE showed stronger cytotoxicity than farm-cultivated ginseng extract (FGE) through promoting ROS generation. Also MGE dose-dependently brought about mitochondrial dysfunction in MCF-7 cells. In addition, MGE induced apoptosis through enhancing the activities of caspase-3/7 by regulation of expression of Bcl-2, Bax, cytochrome c, and cleaved caspase-3 in the MCF-7 cells. Consistent with the in vitro results, MGE significantly reduced tumor weights compared with FGE in mice transplanted with MCF-7 cells, and it regulated the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, such as Bcl-2, Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3, and cleaved PARP, in the tumor tissues. Additionally, MGE included higher total ginsenoside contents than FGE. In conclusion, MGE, which is richer in ginsenosides, exerts a stronger anticancer action than FGE in breast cancer. The anticancer action of MGE may be closely correlated with caspase-mediated apoptosis through upregulating ROS generation. Therefore, these findings may be helpful for a clinical understanding of the anticancer mechanism of MGE for breast cancer patients" - See mountain ginseng at Amazon.com but it doesn't show anything with 'mountain'.
• Hexane Extract of Garcinia quaesita Fruits Induces Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Stem Cells Isolated From Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Line MDA-MB-231 - Nutr Cancer 2020 Jun 1;1-11 - "Development of therapy resistance is a major clinical issue in breast cancer treatments. Breast cancer stem cells (bCSCs) have a clearly defined role in the development of breast cancer therapy resistance and tumor recurrence. Therefore, discovery of new treatment strategies to circumvent cancer therapy resistance and tumor recurrence by targeting bCSCs is desperately needed. Fruits of many Garcinia species are edible and, possess a range of health benefits. Garcinia quaesita, a species in the genus Garcinia, is endemic to Sri Lanka. Dried fruits of G. quaesita are commonly used to flavor dishes in Sri Lanka. The present study assessed the potential anticancer and apoptotic properties of G. quaesita fruit extracts in bCSCs using WST-1 cell proliferation assay, sphere formation assay, caspase 3/7 assay, real-time PCR and fluorescent and phase-contrast microscopy. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate), ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) and FRAP (Ferric Reducing Anti-oxidant Power) assays were used as anti-oxidant assays. The hexane extract of G. quaesita fruits was found to mediate cytotoxicity in bCSCs through induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, the hexane extract showed free radical scavenging ability. This pilot investigation provides a rationale to consume G. quaesita fruits as an anticancer dietary supplement for breast cancer patients"
• Association between Polyphenol Intake and Breast Cancer Risk by Menopausal and Hormone Receptor Status - Nutrients. 2020 Apr 3;12(4) - "No associations were found between total intake of polyphenols and BC risk. However, inverse associations were found between stilbenes and all BC risk (ORQ4 vs. Q1: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.56-0.89, Ptrend = 0.001), the consumption of hydroxybenzaldehydes (ORQ4 vs. Q1: 0.75, 95%CI: 0.59-0.93, Ptrend = 0.012) and hydroxycoumarins (ORQ4 vs. Q1: 0.73, 95%CI: 0.57-0.93; Ptrend = 0.005) were also inversely associated. The intake of stilbenes, hydroxybenzaldehydes and hydroxycoumarins can contribute to BC reduction risk on all menopausal and receptor statuses"
• High-Fiber Foods Linked to Lower Breast Cancer Risk - NYT, 4/6/20 - "Compared with women with the lowest overall fiber intake, those with the highest had an 8 percent reduced risk for breast cancer ... The researchers also found that it was only soluble fiber, the kind that predominates in foods like oatmeal, nuts, beans, peas and lentils, that had a statistically significant association with reduced breast cancer incidence. There was a suggestion that insoluble fiber — the kind found in whole grains and that adds bulk to stool — also reduced the risk, but the effect was not statistically significant. (Both soluble and insoluble fiber are found in varying proportions in most fiber-containing foods.)"
• Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Inhibits Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) Elevated Osteoblast Potential of Metastatic Breast Cancer (MDA-MB-231) Cells in Mammary Microcalcification - Nutr Cancer. 2019 Aug 14:1-11 - "Microcalcification seems to be an assurance signature for the prediction of breast cancer malignancy ... omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) showed an inhibitory effect on BMP-2 induced osteoblast-like potential presumably by abrogating BMP signaling" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.
• Tart cherry shown to decrease joint pain, sore muscles in some breast cancer patients - Science Daily, 6/10/19 - "Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a standard treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. These agents can help prevent recurrence of the disease by inhibiting the action of aromatase, an enzyme responsible for conversion of androgens to estrogens. About half of patients who take AIs also suffer from joint and muscle pain known as aromatase inhibitor induced arthralgia, which, at times, can be debilitating and cause patients to not complete their treatments ... This randomized, double-blind trial compared the consumption of 1 ounce of tart cherry concentrate in 8 ounces of water daily for six weeks with a placebo group in women with stage 1, 2 or 3 non-metastatic breast cancer ... Patients who completed the trial recorded a 34.7% mean decrease in pain compared to 1.4% in the placebo group ... The flavonoids and anthocyanins in tart cherry have anti-inflammatory properties and may be playing a role in reducing the side effects of joint pain and muscles aches, although etiology of aromatase-induced arthralgias remain unclear at this time" - See cherry juice extract at Amazon.com.
• Unhealthy gut promotes spread of breast cancer - Science Daily, 6/10/19 - "disrupting the microbiome of mice caused hormone receptor-positive breast cancer to become more aggressive. Altering the microbiome, the collection of microorganisms that live in the gut and elsewhere, had dramatic effects in the body, priming the cancer to spread ... When we disrupted the microbiome's equilibrium in mice by chronically treating them antibiotics, it resulted in inflammation systemically and within the mammary tissue ... In this inflamed environment, tumor cells were much more able to disseminate from the tissue into the blood and to the lungs, which is a major site for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer to metastasize ... Most breast cancers -- 65 percent or more -- are hormone receptor positive. That means their growth is fueled by a hormone, either estrogen or progesterone ... A healthy diet, high in fiber, along with exercise, sleep -- all of those things that contribute to positive overall health" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com and prebiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
• Sulforaphane suppresses the growth of triple-negative breast cancer stem-like cells in vitro and in vivo - Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2019 Jan 24 - "Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the poorest prognosis among all of breast cancer subtypes with no currently available effective therapy. In this study, we hypothesized that sulforaphane (SFN), a dietary component abundant in broccoli and its sprouts, can inhibit malignant cell proliferation and tumor sphere formation of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) in TNBC ... In vivo, BalbC/nude mice were supplemented with SFN before and after TNBC cell inoculation (daily i.p. injection of 50mg SFN/kg for 5 and 3 weeks respectively), and effects of SFN during mammary tumor initiation and growth were accessed with Nanostring gene analysis. We found that SFN can inhibit cell proliferation and mammosphere formation of CSCs in TNBC. Further analysis of gene expression in these TNBC tumor cells revealed that SFN significantly decreases the expression of cancer-specific CR1, CRIPTO-3/TDGF1P3 (CR3, a homologue of CR1), and various stem cell markers including Nanog, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1), Wnt3, and Notch4. Our results suggest that SFN may control the malignant proliferation of CSCs in TNBC via Cripto-mediated pathway by either suppressing its expression and/or by inhibiting Cripto/Alk4 protein complex formation. Thus, the use of SFN for chemoprevention of TNBC is plausible and warrants further clinical evaluation" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.
• Antiproliferative Effect of Trifolium Pratens L. Extract in Human Breast Cancer Cells - Nutr Cancer. 2018 Dec 29:1-13 - "Trifolium pratense L. has been suggested for cancer treatment in traditional medicine. The effect of T. pratense extract on breast cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) was investigated here ... T. pratense as a dietary supplement can be beneficial for some patients with breast cancer who receive conventional chemotherapy" - See Trifolium pratense at Amazon.com.
• Diets rich in fish oil could slow the spread and growth of breast cancer cells - Science Daily, 10/16/18 - "Khadge and her colleagues found the chance that the breast cancer cells would take hold in the breast glands of the adult female mice was significantly lower in those on the omega 3-diet. Tumors took significantly longer to start developing in these mice, and this had an influence on their size. After 35 days, the tumors detected in their breasts were 50 per cent smaller than those that developed in the omega 6-group. The likelihood of the cancerous cells growing and spreading to other organs in the omega-3 group was also lower and these mice survived longer than those on the omega-6 diet. Indeed some of the omega-3 fed mice appeared to never develop breast cancer ... More T-cells were found in the tissue of the mice in the omega-3 group than in the omega-6 group, and these correlated with dying tumor cells. This is important because T-cells are white blood cells that play a role in strengthening the immune system against tumors. The mice fed an omega-3 diet also had less inflammation. According to Khadge this could mean that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps to suppress the type of inflammation that can trigger the rapid development and spread of tumors as well as promote T-cell responses to tumors." - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.
• Greater levels of vitamin D associated with decreasing risk of breast cancer - Science Daily, 6/15/18 - "We found that participants with blood levels of 25(OH)D that were above 60 ng/ml had one-fifth the risk of breast cancer compared to those with less than 20 ng/ml ... To reach 25(OH)D levels of 60 ng/ml, said Garland, would generally require dietary supplements of 4,000 to 6,000 international units (IU) per day" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Serum Vitamin D Status and Breast Cancer Risk by Receptor Status: A Systematic Review - Nutr Cancer. 2018 May 21:1-17 - "Our results suggest that low vitamin D status may particularly increase the risk of TNBC, although more research is needed to determine if this association is causative. Women should be routinely screened for 25(OH)D deficiency" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Quercetin conjugated with silica nanoparticles inhibits tumor growth in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Apr 23 - "Quercetin is a plant polyphenol from the flavonoid group that plays a fundamental role in controlling homeostasis due to its potent antioxidant properties. However, quercetin has extremely low water solubility, which is a major challenge in drug absorption ... we described a simple method for the synthesis of quercetin nanoparticles. The quercetin nanoparticles had an average diameter of 82 nm and prominent yellow emission under UV irradiation ... Quercetin nanoparticles can inhibit cell growth by blocking the cell cycle and promoting apoptosis in MCF-7 cells more than quercetin. As a result, quercetin nanoparticles may be useful therapy or prevention on breast cancer" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Pterostilbene enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis through the induction of death receptors and downregulation of cell survival proteins in TRAIL-resistance triple negative breast cancer cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2017 Nov 22 - "Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) is nontoxic to normal cells and preferentially cytotoxic to cancer cells. However, recent data suggest that malignant breast cancer cells tend to be resistant to TRAIL. Pterostilbene (PTER), a natural dimethylated analog of resveratrol, is known to have diverse pharmacologic activities, including anticancer properties ... Overall, our results show that PTER can potentiate TRAIL-induced apoptosis through the ROS and CHOP upregulation leading to DR4, DR5 expression" - See pterostilbene at Amazon.com.
• Pomegranate Extract Alters Breast Cancer Stem Cell Properties in Association with Inhibition of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition - Nutr Cancer. 2017 Oct 4:1-11 - "Cancer stem cells (CSCs) ... The ability of PE to suppress CSCs can be exploited in the prevention of breast cancer" - See pomegranate extract at Amazon.com.
• Sequential Therapy of Breast Cancer Cell Lines with Vitamin C and Quercetin Improves the Efficacy of Chemotherapeutic Drugs - Nutr Cancer. 2017 Jul 25:1-11 - "Prevention by antioxidant agents including vitamin C (VC) and quercetin (QU), which are nontoxic, cost effective, and physiologically bioavailable, is a promising approach in breast cancer handling ... Our results emphasized the importance of VC+QU in combination with the drugs to produce a synergistic antitumor effect in breast cancer cells" - See American Health Products - Ester C W/Citrus Bioflavonoids, 1000 mg, 180 veg tablets at Amazon.com and quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Study on mice demonstrates the action of strawberries against breast cancer - Science Daily, 4/19/17 - "strawberry extract can inhibit the spread of laboratory-grown breast cancer cells, even when they are inoculated in female mice to induce tumors ... It was also shown that strawberry extract reduced the expression of several genes involved in the processes of invasion and metastasis, such as Csf1, Mcam, Nr4a3 and Set. The extract simultaneously stimulated expression of the gene Htatip2, which is thought to suppress metastasis to the lymphatic ganglion in breast cancer patients"
• Eating Soy Tied to Reduced Breast Cancer Death Risk - Medscape, 3/6/17 - "Specifically, after a median follow-up of 9.4 years, 1224 deaths were documented. And women in the highest quartile of dietary isoflavone intake (≥1.5 mg/day) had a 21% decrease in all-cause mortality compared with women in the lowest quartile (<0.3 mg/day; fourth quartile vs first quartile: hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64"
• Spicy molecule inhibits growth of breast cancer cells - Science Daily, 12/21/16 - "The researchers activated the TRPV1 receptor in the cell culture with capsaicin or helional, by adding the substances to the culture for a period of several hours or days. As a result, the cancer cells divided more slowly. Moreover, the treatment caused tumour cells to die in larger numbers. The surviving cells were no longer able to move as quickly as heretofore; this implies that their ability to form metastases in the body was impeded ... If we could switch on the TRPV1 receptor with specific drugs, this might constitute a new treatment approach for this type of cancer" - See capsaicin supplements at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Status and Risk of Breast Cancer in Iranian Women: A Case-Control Study - J Am Coll Nutr. 2016 Jun 22:1-8 - "Women in the fourth quartile of serum 25(OH)D level had 3 times lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to those in the first quartile. In the adjusted model the inverse relationship remained significant (odds ratio [OR] = 0.269; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.122-0.593). In the stratified model by menopausal status the inverse association was only seen in premenopausal women (OR = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.094-0.687). Dietary intake of vitamin D was inversely associated with risk of breast cancer (OR fourth quartile [Q4] vs first quartile [Q1] = 0.39; 95% CI, 0.196-0.784; p = 0.008). After adjusting for the confounding factors, this inverse association remained significant" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Fish Oil Supplementation Enhances Pulmonary Strength and Endurance in Women Undergoing Chemotherapy - Nutr Cancer. 2016 Jun 24:1-8 - "We investigated the effect of fish oil (FO) supplementation, at 4 g/day, on the respiratory performance and blood lipid profile of 32 patients with breast cancer at the beginning of chemotherapy. They were randomized into two groups: control (C) and FO supplemented (S) ... The S group showed a significant increase in the maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure (P ≤ 0.05 vs. Day 0) and in the maximum voluntary ventilation (P ≤ 0.05). In the treadmill 6-min-walk test, the S group had a significant increase in the walked distance (P ≤ 0.05). Blood lactate concentration was significantly lower in the S group after 60 days, at rest, when compared to C (P ≤ 0.05). Plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration remained the same after 60 days of supplementation, while in the C group, it decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05 Day 0 vs. Day 60). Triacylglycerol (TAG) plasma concentration in the S group was lower when compared to the C group (P ≤ 0.05 Day 60S vs. Day 60). Supplementation with FO caused improvement in the respiratory muscle strength and endurance, ameliorated functional performance, and kept TAG, HDL cholesterol, and lactate plasma concentration at normal levels" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
• Plasma carotenoids, vitamin C, tocopherols, and retinol and the risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort - Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jan 20 - "In quintile 5 compared with quintile 1, α-carotene (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.98) and β-carotene (OR: 0.41" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Vegetable and fruit consumption and the risk of hormone receptor-defined breast cancer in the EPIC cohort - Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Nov 25 - "Compared with the lowest quintile, the highest quintile of vegetable intake was associated with a lower risk of overall breast cancer (HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.94). Although the inverse association was most apparent for ER-PR- breast cancer (ER-PR-: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.96; P-trend = 0.03; ER+PR+: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.91 ... Fruit intake was not significantly associated with total and hormone receptor-defined breast cancer risk"
• Specific serum carotenoids are inversely associated with breast cancer risk among Chinese women: a case-control study - Br J Nutr. 2015 Oct 20:1-9 - "Significant inverse associations were observed between serum α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin and the risk for breast cancer. The multivariate OR for the highest quartile of serum concentration compared with the lowest quartile were 0.44 (95 % CI 0.30, 0.65) for α-carotene, 0.27 (95 % CI 0.18, 0.40) for β-carotene, 0.41 (95 % CI 0.28, 0.61) for lycopene and 0.26 (95 % CI 0.17, 0.38) for lutein/zeaxanthin" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Breast Cancer Prevention and Survivorship - Medscape, 10/1/15 - "Women with evidence of high intake ratios of the marine omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) relative to the omega-6 arachidonic acid have been found to have a reduced risk of breast cancer compared with those with low ratios in some but not all case–control and cohort studies. If increasing EPA and DHA relative to arachidonic acid is effective in reducing breast cancer risk, likely mechanisms include reduction in proinflammatory lipid derivatives, inhibition of nuclear factor-κB-induced cytokine production, and decreased growth factor receptor signaling as a result of alteration in membrane lipid rafts ... The inflammation-resolving properties and favorable effects of EPA and DHA on oncogenic proteins, as well as on the cardiovascular, bone, and central nervous system, make them excellent candidates for primary and secondary breast cancer prevention trials for individuals at increased risk as well as breast cancer survivors" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
• Mediterranean diet plus olive oil associated with reduced breast cancer risk - Science Daily, 9/14/15 = "participants in the two intervention groups were given EVOO (one liter per week for the participants and their families) or mixed nuts (30 grams per day: 15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts and 7.5 grams of almonds) ... women eating a Mediterranean diet supplemented with EVOO showed a 68 percent (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio of 0.32) relatively lower risk of malignant breast cancer than those allocated to the control diet. Women eating a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts showed a nonsignificant risk reduction compared with women in the control group"
• Associations between cruciferous vegetable intake and selected biomarkers among women scheduled for breast biopsies - Public Health Nutr. 2015 Sep 2 - "The present study sought to provide additional evidence for the potential role of sulforaphane in histone acetylation and cell proliferation. Here, we report that total cruciferous vegetable intake is associated with decreased cell proliferation in breast DCIS tissue" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.
• Anticancer Effects of γ-Tocotrienol Are Associated with a Suppression in Aerobic Glycolysis - Biol Pharm Bull. 2015 - "γ-Tocotrienol is a natural isoform within the vitamin E family of compounds that displays potent antiproliferative and apoptotic activity against a wide range of cancer cell types at treatment doses that have little or no effect on normal cell viability. Studies were conducted to determine the effects of γ-tocotrienol on aerobic glycolysis in mouse +SA and human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Treatment with γ-tocotrienol resulted in a dose-responsive inhibition of both +SA and MCF-7 mammary tumor cell growth, and induced a relatively large reduction in glucose utilization, intracellular ATP production and extracellular lactate excretion. These effects were also associated with a large decrease in enzyme expression levels involved in regulating aerobic glycolysis, including hexokinase-II, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase M2, and lactate dehydrogenase A. γ-Tocotrienol treatment was also associated with a corresponding reduction in the levels of phosphorylated (active) Akt, phosphorylated (active) mTOR, and c-Myc, but not HIF-1α or glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1). In summary, these findings demonstrate that the antiproliferative effects of γ-tocotrienol are mediated, at least in the part, by the concurrent inhibition of Akt/mTOR signaling, c-Myc expression and aerobic glycolysis" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• EFFECT OF METFORMIN ON BREAST DUCTAL CARCINOMA IN SITU PROLIFERATION IN A RANDOMIZED PRE-SURGICAL TRIAL - Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2015 Aug 14 - "Metformin is associated with lower breast cancer (BCa) risk in epidemiological studies and showed decreased proliferation in HER2-positive BCa in a pre-surgical trial ... We randomly assigned 200 non-diabetic patients diagnosed with invasive BCa in core biopsies to metformin, 1700 mg or placebo once daily for 28 days prior to surgery ... In tissue samples obtained following 4 weeks of study drug, proliferation was lower in HER2-positive DCIS for women randomized to metformin vs. placebo" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.
• The effect of melatonin on sleep and quality of life in patients with advanced breast cancer - Support Care Cancer. 2015 Aug 11 - "Thirty-two patients with metastatic breast cancer, receiving hormonal or trastuzumab therapy, took 5 mg of melatonin at bedtime for 2 months ... Bedtime melatonin was associated with a significant improvement in a marker of objective sleep quality, sleep fragmentation and quantity, subjective sleep, fatigue severity, global quality of life, and social and cognitive functioning scales. Morning clock gene expression was increased following bedtime melatonin intake" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.  I like the peppermint flavored by Source Naturals.
• Omega-3-Acid Ethyl Esters Block the Protumorigenic Effects of Obesity in Mouse Models of Postmenopausal Basal-Like and Claudin Low Breast Cancer - Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2015 Jun 22 - "Obesity induces chronic inflammation and is an established risk and progression factor for triple-negative breast cancers, including basal-like (BL) and claudin-low (CL) subtypes ... EPA+DHA supplementation in DIO mice reduced growth of Wnt-1 and M-Wnt tumors; reduced leptin:adiponectin ratio and pro-inflammatory eicosanoids in the serum; improved insulin sensitivity; and decreased tumoral expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and phospho-p65. Thus, EPA+DHA supplementation in mouse models of postmenopausal BL and CL breast cancer offsets many of the pro-tumorigenic effects of obesity" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
• Plasma carotenoids and breast cancer risk in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort - Cancer Causes Control. 2015 Jun 17 - "Plasma α-carotene above the lowest quartile was associated with significant 40-43 % lower risk of invasive breast cancer risk (fourth vs. first quartile OR 0.60, 95 % CI 0.41-0.87, P-trend = 0.037) after adjustment for multiple covariates. This inverse association was strengthened after further adjustment for other plasma carotenoids and total fruit and vegetable intake (fourth vs. first quartile OR 0.50, 95 % CI 0.29-0.85, P-trend = 0.041). Other plasma carotenoids or total carotenoids were not associated with breast cancer risk" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com and carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Whole Grain Consumption and Breast Cancer: A Case-Control Study in Women - J Am Coll Nutr. 2015 Apr 27:1-7 - "Whole grain consumption of more than 7 times/week was associated with a 0.49-fold (odds ratio = 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.29, 0.82) lower likelihood of having breast cancer, after adjustments were made" - See brown rice pasta at Amazon.com.  My favorite is Annie Chun's Brown Rice Noodle, Maifun, 8-Ounce (Pack of 6) and I used olive oil to make the pancit along with bean sprouts, fresh spinach and either shrimp, chicken or the leanest cut of pork.
• Coffee protects against breast cancer recurrence, detailed findings confirm - Science Daily, 4/21/15 - "unlike in the previous study, we have combined information about the patients' lifestyle and clinical data from 1090 breast cancer patients with studies on breast cancer cells. The study shows that among the over 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who had drunk at least two cups of coffee a day had only half the risk of recurrence of those who drank less coffee or none at all ... Just two cups a day is sufficient to make a difference"
• Plasma carotenoids and risk of breast cancer over 20 y of follow-up - Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Apr 15 - "Higher concentrations of α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene, and total carotenoids were associated with 18-28% statistically significant lower risks of breast cancer (e.g., β-carotene top compared with bottom quintile RR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.88; P-trend < 0.001). Associations were apparent for total carotenoids measured ≥10 y before diagnosis (top compared with bottom quintile RR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.95; P-trend = 0.01) as well as those <10 y before diagnosis (RR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.64, 0.98; P-trend = 0.04, P-interaction = 0.11). Carotenoid concentrations were strongly inversely associated with breast cancer recurrence and death (e.g., β-carotene top compared with bottom quintile RR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.51; P-trend < 0.001) compared with not recurrent and not lethal disease" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com and carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Natural extract shows promise for preventing breast cancer, study suggests - Science Daily, 3/29/15 - "the scientists treated tissue cultures of triple negative breast cancer cells with several concentrations of rosehip extract. Exposure to the highest concentration (1.0 mg/ml) decreased triple negative breast cancer cell proliferation by 50 percent. The effect was reduced with decreasing concentrations. The highest concentrations of rosehip extracts (.025 to 1.0 mg/ml) decreased triple negative breast cancer cell migration by 25 to 45 percent ... The extract also enhanced the ability of the commonly used breast cancer chemotherapy drug doxorubicin to decrease cell proliferation and migration in the tissue cultures" - See rosehip extract at Amazon.com.
• Piperine inhibits the growth and motility of triple-negative breast cancer cells - Cancer Lett. 2014 Nov 13 - "Taken together, these findings suggest that piperine may be useful in the treatment of TNBC" - See piperine extract at Amazon.com.
• The Role of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Prevention and Treatment of Breast Cancer - Nutrients. 2014 Nov 18;6(11):5184-5223 - "Evidence has shown that fish consumption or intake of long-chain n-3 PUFA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are beneficial for inhibiting mammary carcinogenesis ... Overall, this review suggests that each n-3 PUFA has promising anticancer effects and warrants further research" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
• Total dietary antioxidant capacity, individual antioxidant intake and breast cancer risk: The rotterdam study - Int J Cancer. 2014 Oct 4 - "as assessed by dietary ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) ... High dietary FRAP score was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.96). No overall association between individual antioxidant intake and breast cancer risk was found. However, low intake of alpha carotene and beta carotene was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer among smokers (HR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.21, 5.12 and HR: 2.31; 95% CI: 1.12, 4.76 for alpha and beta carotene respectively) and low intake of flavonoids was associated with breast cancer risk in women over the age of 70 (HR: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.99). These results suggest that high overall dietary antioxidant capacity are associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. Individual effects of dietary carotenoids and dietary flavonoids may be restricted to subgroups such as smokers and elderly" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.
• Improved Survival in Cancer Patients With High Vitamin D - Medscape, 5/1/14 - "overall survival for colorectal and breast cancer patients in the highest quartile of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels was significantly better than it was for those in the lowest quartile of 25(OH)D levels ... Overall survival was also significantly better for lymphoma patients in the highest 25(OH)D quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile ... Considering that vitamin D deficiency is widespread around the world, our suggestion is to ensure everyone has sufficient levels of this important nutrient — that is, circulating 25(OH)D levels �� greater than 75 nmol/L ... when investigators compared 25(OH)D levels in the range of 40 to 70 nmol/L to levels <19 nmol/L, they found that a 10-nmol/L increase in circulating vitamin D levels upon cancer diagnosis was associated with a 4% reduction in all-cause mortality among all cancer patients in whom a dose-response relationship was assessed" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Can vitamin A turn back the clock on breast cancer? - Science Daily, 3/31/14 - "A derivative of vitamin A, known as retinoic acid, found abundantly in sweet potato and carrots, helps turn pre-cancer cells back to normal healthy breast cells ... used a model of breast cancer progression composed of four types of cells each one representing a different stage of breast cancer: normal, pre-cancerous, cancerous and a fully aggressive model ... When the researchers exposed the four breast cell types to different concentrations of retinoic acid – one of the chemicals that the body converts vitamin A into – they noticed a strong change in the pre-cancerous cells. Not only did the pre-cancerous cells begin to look more like normal cells in terms of their shape, they also changed their genetic signature back to normal"
• Vitamin D increases breast cancer patient survival, study shows - Science Daily, 3/6/14 - "Vitamin D metabolites increase communication between cells by switching on a protein that blocks aggressive cell division ... As long as vitamin D receptors are present tumor growth is prevented and kept from expanding its blood supply. Vitamin D receptors are not lost until a tumor is very advanced. This is the reason for better survival in patients whose vitamin D blood levels are high ... Women in the high serum group had an average level of 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in their blood. The low group averaged 17 ng/ml. The average level in patients with breast cancer in the United States is 17 ng/ml ... a serum level of 50 ng/ml is associated with 50 percent lower risk of breast cancer. While there are some variations in absorption, those who consume 4,000 International Units (IU) per day of vitamin D from food or a supplement normally would reach a serum level of 50 ng/ml" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Specific carotenoid intake is inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer among Chinese women - Br J Nutr. 2014 Feb 6:1-10 - "A total of 561 cases and 561 controls who were frequency matched by age (5-year interval) and residence were recruited in the present case-control study. Dietary intake information was collected by a face-to-face interview using a validated FFQ ... An inverse association was observed between the consumption of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin and lutein/zeaxanthin and the risk of breast cancer. The multivariate-adjusted OR for the highest quartile of intake compared with the lowest quartile of intake were 0.61 (95 % CI 0.43, 0.88) for α-carotene, 0.54 (95 % CI 0.38, 0.78) for β-carotene, 0.38 (95 % CI 0.26, 0.52) for β-cryptoxanthin and 0.49 (95 % CI 0.34, 0.71) for lutein/zeaxanthin. Lycopene intake was not found to be associated with the risk of breast cancer, with the adjusted OR of 0.89 (95 % CI 0.61, 1.30). These inverse associations were more evident among pre-menopausal women and women who were exposed to second-hand smoke" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Melatonin shows potential to slow tumor growth in certain breast cancers - Science Daily, 1/28/14 - "These early stage research results with the melatonin drug in a triple-negative breast cancer animal models achieved in our lab has not been seen anywhere else ... The mice were randomly assigned to either the melatonin or control groups. The melatonin group received treatment each night for 21 days ... Those treated showed significantly smaller tumors after 21 days while the mean tumor volume increased significantly in the control group. And, there was less vascular growth in the tumors of the treated group" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.
• The prognostic value of metformin for cancer patients with concurrent diabetes- a systematic review and meta-analysis - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2014 Jan 27 - "A literature search was performed using the PubMed, EMbase and SciVerse Scopus databases ... metformin was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality in cancer patients with concurrent diabetes, particularly for breast (pooled relative risk (RR) 0.70, 95% CI 0.55, 0.88; P=0.003), colorectal (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.59, 0.84; P<0.001), ovarian (RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.30, 0.64; P<0.001) and endometrial cancer (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.32, 0.73; P=0.001). In addition, metformin was associated with lower risks of cancer-specific mortality" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.
• Effects of Tomato and Soy on Serum Adipokine Concentrations in Postmenopausal Women at Increased Breast Cancer Risk: A Cross-Over Dietary Intervention Trial - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Jan 1:jc20133222 - "Seventy postmenopausal women at increased breast cancer risk participated in the study. The mean age and body mass index of participants was 57.2 years ... The interventions included 10 weeks of consumption of a tomato-based diet (≥25 mg lycopene daily) and 10 weeks of consumption of a soy-based diet (≥40 g of soy protein daily), with a 2-week washout in between ... After the tomato intervention, among all women, adiponectin concentration increased (ratio 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.18), with a stronger effect observed among nonobese women (ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.02-1.25). After the soy intervention, adiponectin decreased overall (ratio 0.91, 95% CI 0.84-0.97), with a larger reduction observed among nonobese women (ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.98) ... Increasing dietary consumption of tomato-based foods may beneficially increase serum adiponectin concentrations among postmenopausal women at increased breast cancer risk, especially those who are not obese" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Effect of β-Glucan on Drain Fluid and Amount of Drainage Following Modified Radical Mastectomy - Adv Ther. 2014 Jan 14 - "One hundred and thirty breast cancer patients of Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital were divided into 2 groups by consecutive randomization (n = 65 each). β-glucan 10 mg capsules were administered to Group 1 twice a day for 10 days. Group 2 took placebos in the same manner ... Group 1 showed significantly lower daily drainage volumes between days 2 and 8. Mean drain removal day was 7.16 ± 1.72 in Group 1 and 8.59 ± 2.27 in Group 2. The difference was significant (p < 0.001). TNF-α and IL-6 levels on days 1 and 2 in Group 1 were significantly lower (p < 0.001). In addition, β-glucan significantly shortened the number of days required for the drain removal in patients who have comorbidities (p = 0.018). The earliest removal was in patients without comorbidity and who received β-glucan" - See beta glucan at Amazon.com.
• Whole Blueberry Powder Inhibits Metastasis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer in a Xenograft Mouse Model Through Modulation of Inflammatory Cytokines - Nutr Cancer. 2013 Dec 23 - "Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises approximately 15% of breast cancers and is associated with a poor prognosis ... we induced a proinflammatory microenvironment by feeding female MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing mice a high fat western diet (W) with 5% whole blueberry powder (BB) and studied the effect on tumor formation and metastasis. We showed that mice fed a BB diet had significantly smaller tumors, less ulceration, and significantly less metastasis to the inguinal lymph nodes than mice fed a W diet. In BB-fed mice, serum levels of specific antiinflammatory cytokines were increased and specific cytokine expression was also altered. Together, these results suggest that blueberries may inhibit TNBC and TNBC-related metastasis by reducing inflammation via specific cytokine-driven pathways and thus reduce tumor growth and metastasis" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com and Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.
• Calcium + Vitamin D: Surprises From Long-term Follow-up - Medscape, 12/11/13 - "the analyses that were limited to adherent women who were taking at least 80% of their study pills compared with the women who were taking at least 80% of their placebo pills showed a statistically significant 29% reduction in the risk for hip fracture ... Also shown in the new report is that with longer-term follow-up, a statistically significant reduction in in situ breast cancer emerged -- a 13% reduction overall ... In terms of all cancers, among the women who had low baseline intake of vitamin D, there was a statistically significant 9% reduction in total cancer with supplementation, and also a marginally significant 9% reduction in all-cause mortality" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• High cholesterol fuels growth, spread of breast cancer - Science Daily, 11/28/13 - "the research for the first time explains the link between high cholesterol and breast cancer, especially in post-menopausal women, and suggests that dietary changes or therapies to reduce cholesterol may also offer a simple, accessible way to reduce breast cancer risk ... What we have now found is a molecule -- not cholesterol itself, but an abundant metabolite of cholesterol -- called 27HC that mimics the hormone estrogen and can independently drive the growth of breast cancer ... the findings suggest there may be a simple way to reduce the risk of breast cancer by keeping cholesterol in check, either with statins or a healthy diet. Additionally, for women who have breast cancer and high cholesterol, taking statins may delay or prevent resistance to endocrine therapies such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors" - See red yeast rice at Amazon.com.
• Multivitamins With Minerals May Protect Older Women With Invasive Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 10/9/13 - "The research was conducted as part of the Women's Health Initiative Clinical Trials and the Women's Health Initiative(WHI)Observational Study. Combined, the two studies include data from 161,608 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 when they first joined the study ... A comparison of mortality rates revealed that women with invasive breast cancer who took multivitamin/mineral supplements were 30 percent less likely to die from their cancers than women with invasive breast cancer who hadn't taken the supplements. Could differences between the multivitamin/mineral users and nonusers account for this finding? The researchers looked at many possible confounding factors including additional supplements that the women took, their smoking status, education, race/ethnicity, weight, depression, alcohol use, physical activity, age at breast cancer diagnosis, and diabetes. The association between regular use of multivitamin/mineral supplements and reduced risk of death persisted even after these factors were taken into account" - See Garden of Life, Vitamin Code, 50 & Wiser Women at Amazon.com.
• Is Dairy Intake Associated to Breast Cancer? A Case Control Study of Iranian Women - Nutr Cancer. 2013 Sep 25 - "100 cases and 175 controls ... Dietary data were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire ... We observed that higher consumption of total dairy intake was accompanied with reduced breast cancer risk [odds ratio (OR) = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.04-0.38]. A similar inverse association was also observed for higher intakes of low-fat and fermented dairy products (P for trend <0.05). Lower intake of high-fat dairy was associated with reduced odds of breast cancer, and no significant association was found between nonfermented dairy and breast cancer risk. Our study demonstrates the protective effects of high intakes of total dairy, low-fat and fermented dairy, as well as low intakes of high-fat dairy products against breast cancer risk and shows no association with nonfermented dairy" - Note:  Did I read that right, '0.14' or an 86% reduction in risk?  See my yogurt recipe at the top of my yogurt page.
• Induction of Human Breast Cell Carcinogenesis by Triclocarban and Intervention by Curcumin - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013 Aug 10 - "More than 85% of breast cancers are sporadic and attributable to long-term exposure to environmental carcinogens and co-carcinogens. To identify co-carcinogens with abilities to induce cellular pre-malignancy, we studied the activity of triclocarban (TCC), an antimicrobial agent commonly used in household and personal care products. Here, we demonstrated, for the first time, that chronic exposure to TCC at physiologically-achievable nanomolar concentrations resulted in progressive carcinogenesis of human breast cells from non-cancerous to pre-malignant ... Using TCC-induced transient and constitutive endpoints as targets will likely help identify non-cytotoxic preventive agents, such as curcumin, effective in suppressing TCC-induced cellular pre-malignancy" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Specific Fish Oils May Protect Against Breast Cancer - Medscape, 6/27/13 - "The consumption of higher levels of dietary marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is associated with a 14% lower risk for breast cancer than lower levels of consumption ... They found that marine n-3 PUFAs were associated with a 14% reduction in the risk for breast cancer (relative risk [RR] for highest vs lowest intake, 0.86) ... no significant association was observed for exposure to alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is contained in some nuts and in vegetable oils. About half of the studies in the meta-analysis contained data on ALA. Both ALA and n-3 PUFAs are types of omega-3 fatty acids" - [Science Daily] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Dietary selenium supplementation modifies breast tumor growth and metastasis - Int J Cancer. 2013 Apr 23 - "Three diets supplemented with sodium selenite, methylseleninic acid (MSA) or selenomethionine (SeMet), as well as a Se-deficient and a Se-adequate diet were fed to mice before mammary gland inoculation of 4T1.2 cells ... Our data suggest that organic Se supplementation may reduce/delay breast cancer metastasis while selenite may exacerbate it" - See se-methylselenocysteine at Amazon.com.
• Population versus hospital controls in the assessment of dietary intake of isoflavone for case-control studies on cancers in china - Nutr Cancer. 2013 Apr;65(3):390-7 - "Three parallel case-control studies on leukemia, breast, and colorectal cancers in China in 2009-2010 were conducted, using population and hospital outpatient controls to separately match 560 incident cases at a 1:1 ratio ... Risk estimates for breast cancers were adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 0.39 (0.23-0.66) and 0.31 (0.18-0.55) for daidzein, 0.35 (0.20-0.61) and 0.28 (0.16-0.52) for genistein, 0.66 (0.41-1.08) and 0.53 (0.32-0.88) for glycitein, and 0.53 (0.33-0.85) and 0.43 (0.26-0.71) for total isoflavone using hospital outpatient and population controls respectively" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Bitter melon juice prevents pancreatic cancer in mouse models - Science Daily, 3/12/13 - "Three years ago researchers showed the effect of bitter melon extract on breast cancer cells only in a Petri dish. This study goes much, much farther. We used the juice -- people especially in Asian countries are already consuming it in quantity. We show that it affects the glucose metabolism pathway to restrict energy and kill pancreatic cancer cells" - See bitter melon at Amazon.com.
• Association of pre-diagnosis physical activity with recurrence and mortality among women with breast cancer - Int J Cancer. 2013 Feb 27 - "physical activity (PA) ... assessed the association of pre-diagnosis PA with recurrence, overall and cause-specific survival in a prospective cohort study in Germany including 3,393 non-metastatic breast cancer patients aged 50-74 years ... median follow-up of 5.6 years ... Overall mortality was significantly inversely associated with pre-diagnosis recreational PA. However, this effect was mainly attributed to deaths due to causes other than breast cancer. Multiple fractional polynomial analyses yielded a non-linear association with markedly increased non-breast cancer mortality for women who did not engage in any sports or cycling in the years before the breast cancer diagnosis with a hazard ratio HR (none vs. any) of 1.71, 95% confidence interval (1.16, 2.52). There were no further risk reductions with increasing activity levels. The association with breast cancer-specific mortality showed a similar dose-response but was far less pronounced with HR (none vs. any)=1.22 (0.91, 1.64). In contrast, regarding cancer recurrence the dose-response was linear. However, this association was restricted to estrogen/progesterone receptor-negative (ER-/PR-) cases (p(interaction) =0.033) with HR (highest vs. no recreational PA)=0.53 (0.24, 1.16), p(trend) =0.0045"
• Omega-3s inhibit breast cancer tumor growth, study finds - Science Daily, 2/21/13 - "A lifelong diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can inhibit growth of breast cancer tumours by 30 per cent ... the researchers created a novel transgenic mouse that both produces omega-3 fatty acids and develops aggressive mammary tumours. The team compared those animals to mice genetically engineered only to develop the same tumours ... Mice producing omega-3s developed only two-thirds as many tumours -- and tumours were also 30-per-cent smaller -- as compared to the control mice" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Soy isoflavone intake and breast cancer risk in Japan: From the takayama study - Int J Cancer. 2013 Feb 6 - "We assessed the associations of soy and isoflavone intake with breast cancer incidence in a population-based prospective cohort study in Japan. Participants were members from the Takayama study, aged 35 years or older in 1992 ... Soy and isoflavone intakes were assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire ... The relative risks of postmenopausal breast cancer were lower among women with higher intakes of soy (trend p=0.023) and isoflavone (trend p=0.046), although the relative risks of premenopausal breast cancer were not associated with intakes of soy and isoflavone. Decreased risks of breast cancer were found even among women with a moderate intake of soy and isoflavone. These results suggested that soy and isoflavone intake have a protective effect on postmenopausal breast cancer"
• Consumption of flaxseed, a rich source of lignans, is associated with reduced breast cancer risk - Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Jan 25 - "A food frequency questionnaire was used to measure the consumption of flaxseed and flax bread by 2,999 women with breast cancer and 3,370 healthy control women who participated in the Ontario Women's Diet and Health Study (2002-2003) ... Consumption of flaxseed was associated with a significant reduction in breast cancer risk (odds ratio (OR) = 0.82, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.69-0.97), as was consumption of flax bread (OR = 0.77, 95 % CI 0.67-0.89)" - See flax seed at Amazon.com.
• Fruit and Vegetable Intake Is Associated With Lower Risk of ER Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 1/25/13 - "total fruit and vegetable intake was statistically significantly linked to a lower risk of ER- breast cancer, but not with risk of overall breast cancer or risk of ER+ breast tumors. The results showed that the lower risk was mostly associated with higher vegetable consumption. "These findings support the value of examining etiologic factors in relation to breast cancer characterized by hormone receptor status in large pooled analyses because modest associations with less common breast cancer subtypes may have been missed in smaller studies," ... the findings of the study support the emphasis on greater intake for vegetables (and to a lesser extent fruit) to lower the risk of ER- breast cancer. However, they also write that, "interpretation of these findings may also be challenged by the known effects of other potential confounders, including the aggregation of health behaviors.""
• Low vitamin D levels linked to high risk of premenopausal breast cancer - Science Daily, 1/14/13 - "women whose serum vitamin D level was low during the three-month period just before diagnosis had approximately three times the risk of breast cancer as women in the highest vitamin D group ... this new study points to the possibility of a relevant window of time for cancer prevention in the last three months preceding tumor diagnosis -a time physiologically critical to the growth of the tumor ... this is likely to be the point at which the tumor may be most actively recruiting blood vessels required for tumor growth ... Based on these data, further investigation of the role of vitamin D in reducing incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, particularly during the late phases of its development, is warranted ... A 2011 meta-analysis by Garland and colleagues estimated that a serum level of 50 ng/ml is associated with 50 percent lower risk of breast cancer. While there are some variations in absorption, those who consume 4000 IU per day of vitamin D from food or a supplement normally would reach a serum level of 50 ng/ml" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• The Inhibitory Effects of the Standardized Extracts of Ginkgo biloba on Aromatase Activity in JEG-3 Human Choriocarcinoma Cells - Phytother Res. 2013 Jan 21 - "There are many endocrine adjuvant therapies for breast cancer patients that are categorized according to their mechanisms. Among them, aromatase inhibitors (AIs) that block the synthesis of estrogens have proven superiority compared with tamoxifen and have replaced it as a first-line hormonal therapy. However, AIs also have limitations due to their side effects - increased rate of bone loss and musculoskeletal complaints ... The extracts of Ginkgo biloba (EGb), which contain phytochemicals from the tree, had biphasic effects for estrogens and osteoporosis-inhibiting activities in our previous experiments. In this study, we explored the possibility of EGb as an AI and their mechanisms. Aromatase activities were inhibited by EGb both in JEG-3 cells and in recombinant CYP19 microsomes ... From these results, we concluded that EGb could act as an AI at both the enzyme and transcriptional levels" - See Ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Holds Promise in Battling a Deadly Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 1/22/13 - "triple-negative breast cancer ... Importantly, vitamin D plays a role in turning off this pathway, providing a safe and cost-effective strategy to fight these types of tumors ... In previous research, Gonzalo's team showed that vitamin D inhibits CTSL-mediated degradation of 53BP1 in non-tumor cells, as efficiently as specific CTSL inhibitors. This time, they found that treatment of BRCA1-deficient tumor cells with vitamin D restores high levels of 53BP1, which results in increased genomic instability and reduced proliferation. Importantly, their evidence suggests that vitamin D treatment might restore the sensitivity to PARP inhibitors in patients who become resistant ... In the future, women with triple-negative breast cancer may benefit from a treatment that includes vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Effects of Soy Isoflavone and Endogenous Oestrogen on Breast Cancer in MMTV-erbB2 Transgenic Mice - J Int Med Res. 2012;40(6):2073-82 - "Five-week-old mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV)-erbB2 female transgenic mice (n = 180) were divided into three equal groups: low-, normal- and high-oestrogen groups. Each group was then subdivided into an experimental group (given soybean feed) and a control group (given control feed) ... In the high-oestrogen environment, breast cancer incidence was significantly lower in the experimental versus the control group, whereas in the low-oestrogen environment, breast cancer incidence was significantly higher in the experimental versus the control group"
• Dietary fiber intake and risk of hormonal receptor defined breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Dec 26 - "We investigated the relation between total dietary fiber and its main food sources (vegetables, fruit, cereals, and legumes) and BC risk by using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) ... median follow up of 11.5 y ... BC risk was inversely associated with intakes of total dietary fiber (HR(Q5-Q1): 0.95; 95% CI: 0.89, 1.01; P-trend = 0.03) and fiber from vegetables (0.90; 0.84, 0.96; P-trend < 0.01) but not with fiber from fruit, cereals, or legumes. Overall, associations were homogeneous by menopausal status and ER and PR expression in tumors. For vegetable fiber, stronger associations were observed for estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative (HR(Q5-Q1):0.74; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.93; P-trend = 0.01) than for estrogen receptor-positive and progesterone receptor-positive tumors (0.92: 0.81, 1.03; P-trend = 0.05), with P-heterogeneity = 0.09"
• Circulating Carotenoids and Risk of Breast Cancer: Pooled Analysis of Eight Prospective Studies - J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Dec 6 - "pooled analysis of eight cohort studies comprising more than 80% of the world's published prospective data on plasma or serum carotenoids and breast cancer ... ResultsStatistically significant inverse associations with breast cancer were observed for α-carotene (top vs bottom quintile RR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.71 to 1.05, Ptrend = .04), β-carotene (RR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.70 to 0.98, Ptrend = .02), lutein+zeaxanthin (RR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.70 to 1.01, Ptrend = .05), lycopene (RR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.62 to 0.99, Ptrend = .02), and total carotenoids (RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.68 to 0.96, Ptrend = .01) ... This comprehensive prospective analysis suggests women with higher circulating levels of α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein+zeaxanthin, lycopene, and total carotenoids may be at reduced risk of breast cancer" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com or Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.
• Women with higher carotenoid levels have reduced risk of breast cancer - Science Daily, 12/7/12 - "Carotenoids, which are micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, have been found to have anticarcinogenic properties. Previous experimental studies have shown that carotenoids inhibit the tumor progression and reduce proliferation of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancers ... Heather Eliassen, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, conducted a pooled analysis of eight cohort studies, which gathered over 80% of the world's published prospective data on plasma or serum carotenoids and breast cancer ... The researchers found that in over 3,000 case subjects, there were statistically significantly inverse associations between circulating levels of individual and total carotenoids and breast cancer risk, with a stronger finding in ER- breast cancers" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.
• Vegetable-derived compound effective in treating triple-negative breast cancer, research suggests - Science Daily, 10/17/12 - "TNBC accounts for approximately 15-20 percent of all breast cancer cases in the U.S. It is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer; it grows faster, spreads to other parts of the body earlier, is harder to detect on a mammogram and recurs more often ... Sachdeva's study reveals that these synthetic compounds derived from diindolylmethane (DIM), commonly found in various types of cruciferous vegetables, can be used to treat several types of cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer. C-DIMs are also being investigated for their cancer prevention activity" - See diindolylmethane at Amazon.com.
• Moderate-Intensity Physical Activity Ameliorates the Breast Cancer Risk in Diabetic Women - Diabetes Care. 2012 Oct 1 - "A population-based case-control study was conducted using 1,000 incident case subjects and 1,074 control subjects ... The association between diabetes and BC risk decreased with increasing tertiles of moderate-intensity physical activity (odds ratio [OR] = 4.9 [95% CI 2.3-10.8]; 3.0 [1.3-6.9]; and 1.0 [0.1-9.2] respectively, for each tertile) (test for interaction = 0.04). Compared with the women in the lowest tertiles, increased risk was observed in those premenopausal women with the highest serum C-peptide, IGF-1, and IGF-1 binding protein 3 levels"
• Use of isoflavone supplements is associated with reduced postmenopausal breast cancer risk - Int J Cancer. 2012 Aug 13 - "Associations between ever use of 28 isoflavone supplements and breast cancer risk in Ontario, Canada were evaluated using cases (n=3101) identified in 2002-2003 from the Ontario Cancer Registry and controls (n=3471) identified through random digit dialing methods ... Several individual supplements were associated with reduced breast cancer risk (e.g. Natural HRT; AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.69; n(users) =58). Use of any isoflavone supplements was associated with reduced risk when ≥3 were ever used (AOR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.86; n(users) =332; P(trend) =0.008) or any was taken >5 years (AOR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.94; n(users) =325; P(trend) =0.01); high content supplements were consistently associated with reduced risk. Risk reduction was confined to postmenopausal breast cancer for both individual and combined supplements, and was strongest in the latter among high content users who ever took ≥3 supplements (AOR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.81; n(users) =118; P(trend) =0.04) or any >5 years (AOR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.81; n(users) =60; P(trend) =0.03). Associations did not differ by estrogen-progesterone tumor receptor status" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Plant-based compound slows breast cancer in a mouse model - Science Daily, 8/2/12 - "The natural plant compound phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) hinders the development of mammary tumors in a mouse model with similarities to human breast cancer progression ... PEITC has shown to be effective as a chemopreventative agent in mice for colon, intestinal, and prostate cancer, by inducing apoptosis ... administering PEITC for 29 weeks was linked with a 56.3% reduction in mammary carcinoma lesions greater than 2mm ... Since chemoprevention trials are both expensive and time-consuming and necessitate years of follow-up, the authors feel that, "The discovery of biomarker(s) associated with exposure and activity is critical for clinical development of promising cancer chemopreventative agents." - See cruciferous vegetables supplement at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D May Help Breast Cancer Survivors Stay on Track - Medscape, 6/25/12 - "women taking 30,000 IU of oral vitamin D3 weekly on starting letrozole therapy achieved significant benefits in terms of fatigue, joint pain, and disability from joint pain ... Aromatase inhibitors are one of the most important endocrine treatments for breast cancer, but the problem is that about half of the women have severe musculoskeletal pain from these agents, and 18% to 30% report fatigue, [resulting in] a discontinuation rate of about 10% each year ... pain relievers are the only available treatment option ... Using the Simple Descriptive Pain Intensity scale for analysis, only 37% of women receiving vitamin D3 supplementation reported a musculoskeletal event (joint pain, disability from joint pain, or resulting discontinuation of letrozole) at 6 months compared with 51% of those in the placebo group ... In addition, significantly fewer patients receiving vitamin D3 supplementation reported adverse quality of life events, including worsening of pain, disability, or fatigue (42% vs 72%; P < .001)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Diabetes, Metformin, and Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women - J Clin Oncol. 2012 Jun 11 - "assessed associations among diabetes, metformin use, and breast cancer in postmenopausal women participating in Women's Health Initiative clinical trials ... observed over a mean of 11.8 years ... Women with diabetes receiving medications other than metformin had a slightly higher incidence of breast cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.45), and women with diabetes who were given metformin had lower breast cancer incidence (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.99). The association was observed for cancers positive for both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor and those that were negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 ... Metformin use in postmenopausal women with diabetes was associated with lower incidence of invasive breast cancer" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.
• Eating cruciferous vegetables may improve breast cancer survival - Science Daily, 4/3/12 - "a prospective study of 4,886 Chinese breast cancer survivors who were diagnosed with stage 1 to stage 4 breast cancer from 2002 to 2006 ... Women who were in the highest quartiles of intake of vegetables per day had a 62 percent reduced risk of total mortality, 62 percent reduced risk of breast cancer mortality, and 35 percent reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence ... cruciferous vegetable consumption habits differ between China and the United States and suggested this fact be considered when generalizing these results to U.S. breast cancer survivors ... Commonly consumed cruciferous vegetables in China include turnips, Chinese cabbage/bok choy and greens, while broccoli and Brussels sprouts are the more commonly consumed cruciferous vegetables in the United States and other Western countries ... Cruciferous vegetables contain phytochemicals known as isothiocyanates and indoles which appear to have a protective effect against some types of cancer" - See cruciferous supplements at Amazon.com.
• More fiber may reduce breast cancer risk: Meta-analysis - Nutra USA, 1/23/12 - "Every 10 gram per day increase in soluble fiber intake was associated with a 26% reduction in the risk of breast cancer, but no such effect was observed for insoluble fiber" - [Abstract]
  • Dietary Fiber: Insoluble and Soluble Fiber - WebMD - "Soluble fiber dissolves in water. Insoluble fiber does not ... Sources of soluble fiber: oatmeal, oat cereal, lentils, apples, oranges, pears, oat bran, strawberries, nuts, flaxseeds, beans, dried peas, blueberries, psyllium, cucumbers, celery, and carrots ... Sources of insoluble fiber: whole wheat, whole grains, wheat bran, corn bran, seeds, nuts, barley, couscous, brown rice, bulgur, zucchini, celery, broccoli, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, dark leafy vegetables, raisins, grapes, fruit, and root vegetable skins"
• Differential Influence of Dietary Soy Intake on the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence Related to HER2 Status - Nutr Cancer. 2012 Jan 2 - "Legume intake (mostly from black soybeans) was inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer recurrence in HER2 negative cancer patients (HR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.13-0.57, P for trend < 0.01), whereas legume intake was positively associated in HER2 positive cancer patients (P for trend = 0.02). In HER2 negative cancer patients, isoflavone was inversely associated with breast cancer recurrence (HR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.06-0.89; P for trend = 0.01). Total soy intake was not associated with an increased risk of cancer recurrence. In conclusion, overall soy food intake might not affect the risk of cancer recurrence, but high intake of soy isoflavones increased the risk of cancer recurrence in HER2-positive breast cancer patients. However, further research is needed to confirm these results due to the small number of cancer recurrence events"
• ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intakes and the risk of breast cancer in Mexican women: impact of obesity status - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Dec 22 - "Overall, there was no significant association between ω-3 PUFA intake and breast cancer risk (p=0.31). An increased risk of breast cancer was associated with increasing ω-6 PUFA intake in pre-menopausal women (OR=1.92, 95% CI=1.13;3.26; p=0.04). A decreased risk of breast cancer was significantly associated with increasing ω-3 PUFA intake in obese women (OR=0.58, 95%CI=0.39;0.87; p=0.008), but not in normoweight nor in overweight women (p for heterogeneity = 0.017)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Low levels of alcohol consumption associated with small increased risk of breast cancer, study finds - Science Daily, 11/1/11 - "Analyses of data indicated that a low level of alcohol consumption (5.0 to 9.9 grams per day, equivalent to 3-6 glasses of wine per week) was modestly but statistically significantly associated with a 15 percent increased risk of breast cancer. In addition, women who consumed at least 30 grams of alcohol daily on average (at least 2 drinks per day) had a 51 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who never consumed alcohol"
• Inhibitory Effects of Combination of Lycopene and Genistein on 7,12- Dimethyl Benz(a)anthracene-Induced Breast Cancer in Rats - Nutr Cancer. 2011 Sep 29 - "Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Carotenoids and soy isoflavones have been postulated to have breast cancer preventive effects ... 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), a carcinogen known to induce breast tumors ... Tumor weight decreased by 48%, 61%, and 67%, and mean tumor volume decreased by 18%, 35%, and 65% with lycopene, genistein, and lycopene + genistein, respectively (P < 0.01 for the combination). The proportions of adenocarcinoma masses decreased with lycopene and genistein combination (P < 0.05). Administration of lycopene and genistein combination suppressed breast cancer development and was associated with a decrease in MDA, 8-isoprostane, and 8-OhdG levels and with an increase in serum lycopene and genistein levels. Animals administered DMBA developed breast cancer, which was associated with increased expression of Bcl-2 and decreased expression of Bax, caspase 3, and caspase 9 in mammary tissues. Administration of genistein and lycopene in combination was more effective in inhibiting DMBA-induced breast tumors and modulating the expression of apoptosis associated proteins than the administration of each agent alone" - See lycopene at Amazon.com and genistein at Amazon.com.
• Red wine ingredient resveratrol stops breast cancer growth, study suggests - Science Daily, 9/29/11 - "resveratrol, the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, stops breast cancer cells from growing by blocking the growth effects of estrogen ... resveratrol is able to counteract the malignant progression since it inhibits the proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells. This has important implications for the treatment of women with breast cancer whose tumors eventually develop resistance to hormonal therapy ... Resveratrol is a potential pharmacological tool to be exploited when breast cancer become resistant to the hormonal therapy" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Blueberry powder may slow breast tumor growth: Mouse data - Nutra USA, 9/20/11 - "The California-based researchers performed two separate experiments. The first put mice in one of three diet groups: A control diet or the diet supplemented with 5% or 10% blueberry powder ... After two weeks of feeding the mice received injections containing aggressive breast cancer cells. After a further six weeks of observation the researchers reported that the 5 and 10% blueberry groups displayed a 75 and 60% reduction in tumor size, compared to the control group ... In addition, results from molecular analysis revealed that blueberry consumption was associated with an alteration in the expression of genes related to inflammation, cancer, and metastasis in such a way that cancer risk would most likely decline ... This suggests that there may be an optimal level of blueberry intake" - [Abstract] - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Plant compound reduces breast cancer mortality, study suggests - Science Daily, 9/13/11 - "The most important type of phytoestrogens in our Western diet are lignans, which are contained in seeds, particularly flaxseeds, as well as in wheat and vegetables. In the bowel, these substances are turned into enterolactone, which is absorbed by the mucous tissue and which was determined by the Heidelberg researchers as a biomarker in the patients' blood ... Compared to the study subjects with the lowest enterolactone levels, the women with the highest blood levels of this biomarker had an approximately 40 percent lower mortality risk ... Another observation that may be interpreted in this direction is that Asian women are less frequently affected by breast cancer. Their soy-rich diet contains large amounts of another type of phytoestrogens, isoflavones. On the other hand, scientists fear that isoflavones might imitate the growth-promoting properties of real hormones and, thus, accelerate hormone-dependent tumors such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. "It has not yet been finally determined whether lignans in the body imitate the hormone effect or, on the contrary, counteract it,""
• Whole Blueberry Powder Modulates the Growth and Metastasis of MDA-MB-231 Triple Negative Breast Tumors in Nude Mice - J Nutr. 2011 Aug 31 - "In this study, tumor volume was 75% lower in mice fed the 5% BB diet and 60% lower in mice fed the 10% BB diet than in control mice (P ≤ 0.05). Tumor cell proliferation (Ki-67) was lower in the 5 and 10% BB-fed mice and cell death (Caspase 3) was greater in the 10% BB-fed mice compared to control mice (P ≤ 0.05). Gene analysis of tumor tissues from the 5% BB-fed mice revealed significantly altered expression of genes important to inflammation, cancer, and metastasis, specifically, Wnt signaling, thrombospondin-2, IL-13, and IFNγ. To confirm effects on Wnt signaling, analysis of tumor tissues from 5% BB-fed mice revealed lower β-catenin expression and glycogen synthase kinase-3β phosphorylation with greater expression of the β-catenin inhibitory protein adenomatous polyposis coli compared to controls. A second study tested the ability of the 5% BB diet to inhibit MDA-MB-231-luc-D3H2LN metastasis in vivo. In this study, 5% BB-fed mice developed 70% fewer liver metastases (P = 0.04) and 25% fewer lymph node metastases (P = 0.09) compared to control mice. This study demonstrates the oral antitumor and metastasis activity of whole BB powder against TNBC in mice" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D relieves joint, muscle pain for breast cancer patients - Science Daily, 7/26/11 - "Rastelli's group recruited 60 patients who reported pain and discomfort associated with anastrozole, one of three FDA-approved aromatase inhibitors. The patients they studied also had low vitamin D levels. Half the group was randomly assigned to receive the recommended daily dose of vitamin D (400 international units) plus a 50,000-unit vitamin D capsule once a week. The other half received the daily dose of 400 units of vitamin D plus a weekly placebo. All subjects received 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily throughout the study ... patients receiving high-dose vitamin D every week reported significantly less musculoskeletal pain and also were less likely to experience pain that interfered with daily living" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Retinol, vitamins A, C, and E and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis and meta-regression - Cancer Causes Control. 2011 Jul 15 - "Overall, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria. Comparing the highest with the lowest intake, total vitamin A intake reduced the breast cancer risk by 17% (pooled OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.78-0.88). Further subgroup analysis based on study design did not change the significant reduction. Although the dietary vitamin A, dietary vitamin E, and total vitamin E intake all reduced breast cancer risk significantly when data from all studies were pooled, the results became nonsignificant when data from cohort studies were pooled. The significant association between total retinol intake and breast cancer in all studies became nonsignificant in case-control studies but remain significant in cohort studies. No significant dose-response relationship was observed in the higher intake of these vitamins with reduced breast cancer risk"
• Dietary fiber intake and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies - Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Jul 20 - "We identified 10 prospective cohort studies of dietary fiber intake and risk of breast cancer involving 16,848 cases and 712,195 participants. The combined RR of breast cancer for the highest compared with the lowest dietary fiber intake was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.83, 0.96), and little evidence of heterogeneity was observed. The association between dietary fiber intake and risk of breast cancer did not significantly differ by geographic region, length of follow-up, or menopausal status of the participants. Omission of any single study little changed the combined risk estimate. Dose-response analysis showed that every 10-g/d increment in dietary fiber intake was associated with a significant 7% reduction in breast cancer risk. Little evidence of publication bias was found"
• Dietary folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and methionine intake and the risk of breast cancer by oestrogen and progesterone receptor status - Br J Nutr. 2011 May 16:1-8 - "Dietary intake information was assessed using a validated FFQ administered through a face-to-face interview ... A significant inverse association was found between dietary folate and vitamin B6 intake and breast cancer risk. The adjusted OR of the highest v. the lowest quartile were 0.32 (95 % CI 0.21, 0.49; Ptrend < 0.001) for dietary folate and 0.46 (95 % CI 0.30, 0.69; Ptrend < 0.001) for vitamin B6. No associations were observed for vitamin B12 and methionine intake. A significant inverse association between dietary folate intake and breast cancer risk was observed in all subtypes of ER and PR status. These findings suggest that dietary folate and vitamin B6 intakes were inversely associated with breast cancer risk. The inverse association did not differ by ER and/or PR status"
• Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets may reduce both tumor growth rates and cancer risk - Science Daily, 6/14/11 - "The first diet, a typical Western diet, contained about 55 percent carbohydrate, 23 percent protein and 22 percent fat. The second, which is somewhat like a South Beach diet but higher in protein, contained 15 percent carbohydrate, 58 percent protein and 26 percent fat. They found that the tumor cells grew consistently slower on the second diet ... As well, mice genetically predisposed to breast cancer were put on these two diets and almost half of them on the Western diet developed breast cancer within their first year of life while none on the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet did. Interestingly, only one on the Western diet reached a normal life span (approximately 2 years), with 70 percent of them dying from cancer while only 30 percent of those on the low-carbohydrate diet developed cancer and more than half these mice reached or exceeded their normal life span ... tumor cells, unlike normal cells, need significantly more glucose to grow and thrive. Restricting carbohydrate intake can significantly limit blood glucose and insulin, a hormone that has been shown in many independent studies to promote tumor growth in both humans and mice"
• Breast cancer research: Mammary gland development of blueberry-fed lab animals studied - Science Daily, 6/7/11 - "several indicators of rat mammary gland health were improved in the offspring (pups) of mothers (dams) that had been fed 5 percent blueberry powder in their rations during pregnancy and during the weeks that they nursed their pups ... In their analysis of several biochemical indicators, the team found, for instance, that the level of the tumor-suppressing protein PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted in chromosome 10) was significantly higher in mammary tissues of offspring of dams on the 5 percent regimen. That's a plus, because PTEN is thought to help protect against cancer" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Magnesium supplements may ease hot flashes for breast cancer patients - Nutra USA, 6/6/11 - "400 mg per day of magnesium oxide for 4 weeks was associated with a 41.4 percent reduction in the frequency of hot flashes ... The intensity of the hot flashes was also reduced as a result of magnesium supplementation by about 50 percent" - [Abstract] - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.
• Coffee reduces breast cancer risk, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/10/11 - "Researchers from Sweden compared lifestyle factors and coffee consumption between women with breast cancer and age-matched women without. They found that coffee drinkers had a lower incidence of breast cancer than women who rarely drank coffee. However they also found that several lifestyle factors affected breast cancer rates, such as age at menopause, exercise, weight, education, and a family history of breast cancer. Once they had adjusted their data to account for these other factors they found that the protective effect of coffee on breast cancer was only measurable for ER-negative breast cancer"
• Low Vitamin D Linked to Aggressive Breast Cancer - WebMD, 4/29/11 - "Women in the study with triple-negative tumors, which do not respond to hormone treatments, were almost three times more likely to have suboptimal vitamin D levels as women with other breast cancers"
• Lights in the Bedroom Increase Breast Cancer Risk - Medscape, 1/11/11 - "This is the third study to suggest that women who have lights on in the bedroom are at greater risk for breast cancer than those who sleep in total darkness ... light at night in the sleeping habitat significantly increased the risk for breast cancer (odds ratio, 1.22"
• High dietary fat, cholesterol linked to increased risk of breast cancer - Science Daily, 1/6/11 - "This mouse model is believed to closely parallel the pathogenesis of human breast cancer. PyMT mice were placed on a diet that contained 21.2 percent fat and 0.2 percent cholesterol, reflective of a typical Western diet. A control group of PyMT mice was fed a normal chow that had only 4.5 percent fat and negligible amounts of cholesterol ... tumors began to develop quickly in mice fed the fat/cholesterol-enriched chow. In this group, the number of tumors was almost doubled, and they were 50 percent larger than those observed in mice that ate a normal diet. "The consumption of a Western diet resulted in accelerated tumor onset and increased tumor incidences, multiplicity, and burden, suggesting an important role for dietary cholesterol in tumor formation," ... There was also a trend towards an increased number of lung metastasis in mice fed the fatty diet"
• Vitamin supplement use during breast cancer treatment and survival: a prospective cohort study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Dec 21 - "Antioxidants may protect normal cells from the oxidative damage that occurs during radiotherapy and certain chemotherapy regimens, however, the same mechanism could protect tumor cells and potentially reduce effectiveness of cancer treatments ... Vitamin use shortly after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with reduced mortality and recurrence risk, adjusted for multiple lifestyle factors, sociodemographics, and known clinical prognostic factors. Women who used antioxidants (vitamin E, vitamin C, multivitamins) had 18% reduced mortality risk (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65-1.02) and 22% reduced recurrence risk (HR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.63-0.95). The inverse association was found regardless of whether vitamin use was concurrent or non-concurrent with chemotherapy, but was only present among patients who did not receive radiotherapy"
• Resveratrol enhances the anti-tumor activity of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin in multiple breast cancer cell lines mainly by suppressing rapamycin-induced AKT signaling - Cancer Lett. 2010 Dec 16 - "The anti-tumor activity of rapamycin is compromised by the feedback-loop-relevant hyperactive PI3K and ERK-MAPK pathway signaling. In breast cancer cells treated with rapamycin, we observed a moderate increase of AKT phosphorylation (P-AKT) in a rapamycin resistant cell line, MDA-MB-231, as well as a slight increase of P-AKT in a rapamycin sensitive cell line, MCF-7. We found that resveratrol, a natural phytoalexin, suppressed the phosphorylation and activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in all the three breast cancer cell lines that we tested. It also had a weak inhibitory effect on the activation of the mTOR/p70S6K pathway in two cell lines expressing wildtype PTEN, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The combined use of resveratrol and rapamycin resulted in modest additive inhibitory effects on the growth of breast cancer cells, mainly through suppressing rapamycin-induced AKT activation"
• Dietary patterns and risk of breast cancer - Br J Cancer. 2010 Dec 14 - "only that characterised by high consumption of fruit and salad was associated with a reduced risk, with stronger associations observed for tumours not expressing oestrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR). Compared with women in the lowest quintile of the factor score, the hazard ratio for women in the highest quintile was 0.92 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.70-1.21; test for trend, P=0.5) for ER-positive or PR-positive tumours and 0.48 (95% CI=0.26-0.86; test for trend, P=0.002) for ER-negative and PR-negative tumours"
• Joint effects of dietary vitamin D and sun exposure on breast cancer risk: results from the French E3N cohort - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Dec 2 - "Dietary and supplemental vitamin D intakes were not associated with BC risk; however, in regions with the highest UVRd, postmenopausal women with high dietary or supplemental vitamin D intake had a significantly lower BC risk as compared to women with the lowest vitamin D intake (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.54 - 0.85, and HR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36 - 0.90 respectively)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Levels Low Even In Breast Cancer Patients Taking Supplements - Medscape, 12/10/10 - "A majority of the women (73%) were taking vitamin D supplements, but even among this group, vitamin D deficiency was found in 25%" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Metformin and incident breast cancer among diabetic women: a population-based case-control study in Denmark - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Nov 30 - "Metformin users were less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer (OR=0.77; 95% CI=0.61, 0.99) than non-metformin users. Adjusting for diabetes complications, clinically diagnosed obesity, and important predictors of breast cancer did not substantially alter the association (OR=0.81; 95%CI=0.63, 0.96). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that metformin may protect against breast cancer in type 2 diabetic peri- or postmenopausal women. Impact: This study supports the growing evidence of a role for metformin in breast cancer chemoprevention"
• Dietary patterns and breast cancer risk among Chinese women - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Nov 16 - "a 74% decreased risk was observed among women in the highest quartile of the vegetable-fruit-soy-milk-poultry-fish dietary pattern relative to the lowest quartile (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.17-0.42). The refined grain-meat-pickle pattern was positively associated with breast cancer risk (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.53, 4.34). Women with a high intake of the vegetable-fruit-soy-milk-poultry-fish pattern and a low intake of the refined grain-meat-pickle pattern showed a decreased risk of breast cancer (adjusted OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.17-0.41)"
• Soy isoflavones may modify risk of breast cancer - Science Daily, 11/8/10 - "Those women with the highest isoflavone intake had an approximately 30 percent decreased risk of having an invasive breast tumor, and an approximately 60 percent decreased risk of having a grade 1 tumor ... Among premenopausal women, the highest intake of isoflavones had a 30 percent decreased risk of stage I disease, a 70 percent decreased risk of having a tumor larger than 2 cm, and a 60 percent decreased risk of having stage 2 breast cancer. These connections were not seen among postmenopausal women" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Soy intake associated with lower recurrence of breast cancer in hormone-sensitive cancers - Science Daily, 10/18/10 - "The recurrence rate of estrogen- and progesterone- positive breast cancer was 12.9% lower among patients in the highest quartile of soy isoflavone intake than among those in the lowest quartile and was 18.7% lower for patients receiving anastrozole therapy in the highest quartile" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk in Chinese women: A prospective cohort study - Int J Cancer. 2010 Sep 28 - "We found no association of breast cancer risk to dietary intake of linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, α-linolenic acid, or marine-derived n-3 PUFA. We found a statistically significant interaction between n-6 PUFA intake, marine-derived n-3 PUFA intake and breast cancer risk (p = 0.008). Women with lower intake (the lowest tertile) of marine-derived n-3 PUFA and higher intake (the highest tertile) of n-6 PUFA had an increase risk for breast cancer (RR=2.06; 95% CI=1.27-3.34) compared to women with higher intake (the highest tertile) of marine-derived n-3 PUFAs and lower intake (the lowest tertile) of n-6 PUFAs after adjusting for potential confounders. The relative amounts of n-6 PUFA to marine-derived n-3 PUFAs may be more important for breast cancer risk than individual dietary amounts of these fatty acids" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Serum 25(OH) Vitamin D and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Nested Case-Control Study from the French E3N Cohort - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Sep;19(9):2341-50 - "We found a decreased risk of breast cancer with increasing 25(OH) vitamin D(3) serum concentrations (odds ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.96; P trend = 0.02) among women in the highest tertile. We also observed a significant inverse association restricted to women under 53 years of age at blood sampling [odds ratio (T(3) versus T(1)), 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.37-0.98; P trend = 0.04]. In premenopausal women, the risk was also decreased, although not significantly" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Fish oil may reduce risk of breast cancer - Science Daily, 7/8/10 - "asked 35,016 postmenopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral "specialty" supplements in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study ... Regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, was linked with a 32 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Key mechanism links virgin olive oil to protection against breast cancer - Science Daily, 6/30/10 - "virgin olive oil is associated with higher incidences of benign breast tumours and at the same time with a decrease in the activity of the p21Ras oncogene, which spurs uncontrolled cell proliferation and stimulates the growth of tumours. In addition, olive oil suppresses the activity of some proteins, such as the AKT, essential for the survival of cells since they prevent apoptosis, the cell's "suicide" programme. Between proliferation and apoptosis in tumour cells, these effects tip the balance towards cell death, thereby slowing the growth of tumours" - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.
• How dietary supplement may block cancer cells - Science Daily, 6/29/10 - "The research showed that I3C causes the destruction of that molecule and thereby blocks the growth of breast cancer cells ... Cdc25A is present at abnormally high levels in about half of breast cancer cases, and it is associated with a poor prognosis ... The molecule also occurs at abnormally high levels in cancers of the breast, prostate, liver, esophagus, endometrium and colon, and in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and in other diseases such as Alzheimer's disease ... I3C can have striking effects on cancer cells ... When the substance was given orally to the mice, it reduced tumor size by up to 65 percent. They also showed that I3C had no affect on breast-cell tumors in which the Cdc25A molecule had a mutation in that key location" - See indole-3-carbinol at Amazon.com.
• Women who choose boiled coffee run lower risk of breast cancer, Swedish study finds - Science Daily, 6/16/10 - "A major difference between boiled and filtered coffee is that the boiled version contains up to 80 times as much coffee-specific fatty acids ... Among women who drank boiled coffee more than four times a day there was a lowered risk of breast cancer compared with women who drank coffee less than once a day. Among women who drank filtered coffee there was an increased risk for early breast cancer (under 49 years old) and a decreased risk for late breast cancer (over 55 years old). Boiled-coffee drinkers, but not filtered-coffee drinkers, also had an increased risk of pancreatic cancer and lung cancer among men"
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use and breast cancer risk in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 May 25 - "Recent aspirin use was inversely associated with breast cancer risk (adjusted OR 0.80, 95% CI: 0.68-0.94); the strongest reduction in risk was observed among those who took >/=2 pills/day on days that aspirin was taken (OR 0.74, 95% CI: 0.61-0. 90). Adult lifetime use was also associated with breast cancer risk (>10 days/month, adjusted OR 0.68, 95% CI: 0.46-1.00). Use of ibuprofen or acetaminophen was not associated with breast cancer"
• Broccoli component limits breast cancer stem cells, study finds - Science Daily, 5/4/10 - "In the current study, researchers took mice with breast cancer and injected varying concentrations of sulforaphane from the broccoli extract. Researchers then used several established methods to assess the number of cancer stem cells in the tumors. These measures showed a marked decrease in the cancer stem cell population after treatment with sulforaphane, with little effect on the normal cells. Further, cancer cells from mice treated with sulforaphane were unable to generate new tumors. The researchers then tested sulforaphane on human breast cancer cell cultures in the lab, finding similar decreases in the cancer stem cells" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin and calcium supplements may reduce breast cancer risk - Science Daily, 4/18/10 - "It is not an immediate effect. You don't take a vitamin today and your breast cancer risk is reduced tomorrow ... Vitamin supplements appeared to reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30 percent"
• Experts allay fears over multivitamins and breast cancer risk - Nutra USA, 4/7/10
• Bitter melon extract decreased breast cancer cell growth - Science Daily, 2/23/10 - "Bitter melon extract, a common dietary supplement, exerts a significant effect against breast cancer cell growth and may eventually become a chemopreventive agent against this form of cancer ... the mechanism of bitter melon extract significantly decreased proliferation, that is, cell growth and division, and induced death in breast cancer cells" - See bitter melon extract at Amazon.com.
• Aspirin Intake and Survival After Breast Cancer - J Clin Oncol. 2010 Feb 16 - "Aspirin use was associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer death. The adjusted relative risks (RRs) for 1, 2 to 5, and 6 to 7 days of aspirin use per week compared with no use were 1.07 (95% CI, 0.70 to 1.63), 0.29 (95% CI, 0.16 to 0.52), and 0.36 (95% CI, 0.24 to 0.54), respectively (test for linear trend, P < .001). This association did not differ appreciably by stage, menopausal status, body mass index, or estrogen receptor status. Results were similar for distant recurrence. The adjusted RRs were 0.91 (95% CI, 0.62 to 1.33), 0.40 (95% CI, 0.24 to 0.65), and 0.57 (95% CI, 0.39 to 0.82; test for trend, P = .03) for 1, 2 to 5, and 6 to 7 days of aspirin use, respectively. CONCLUSION: Among women living at least 1 year after a breast cancer diagnosis, aspirin use was associated with a decreased risk of distant recurrence and breast cancer death"
• DHA omega-3 may improve chemotherapy outcomes: Study - Nutra USA, 2/10/10 - "Our data show for the first time that a dietary intervention targeted on DHA is a feasible approach that has potential to substantially increase survival in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy ... the overall survival of women was 22 months, and reached 34 months in women with the highest DHA levels in their blood" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial - Br J Cancer. 2009 Dec 15;101(12):1978-85 - "The objective response rate was 44%. With a mean follow-up time of 31 months (range 2-96 months), the median TTP was 6 months. Median OS was 22 months and reached 34 months in the sub-population of patients (n = 12) with the highest plasma DHA incorporation. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was neutropaenia (80%). CONCLUSION: DHA during chemotherapy was devoid of adverse side effects and can improve the outcome of chemotherapy when highly incorporated. DHA has a potential to specifically chemosensitise tumours" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Carotenoids may reduce breast cancer risk in women: Study - Nutra USA, 2/8/10 - "The highest average levels of alpha- and beta-carotene were associated with a 68 and 65 per cent reduction in the risk of ER-PR breast cancer among smokers" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.
• Moderate physical activity and breast cancer risk: the effect of menopausal status - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Jan 19 - "Participating in moderate-intensity physical activity decreased the risk of BC in both pre- and postmenopausal women (OR = 0.96; 95% CI 0.92.-0.99; OR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.86-0.93, respectively) for every 3 h per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. There was a statistically significant modification effect by menopausal status"
• Pomegranates May Stall Breast Cancer - WebMD, 1/5/10 - "Eating pomegranates or drinking pomegranate juice may help prevent and slow the growth of some types of breast cancer ... Researchers say the ellagitannins in pomegranates work by inhibiting aromatase, which is a key enzyme used by the body to make estrogen and plays a key role in breast cancer growth" - See pomegranate at Amazon.com.
• Soy food intake and breast cancer survival - JAMA. 2009 Dec 9;302(22):2437-43 - "Soy food intake, as measured by either soy protein or soy isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with mortality and recurrence. The hazard ratio associated with the highest quartile of soy protein intake was 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-0.92) for total mortality and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.54-0.87) for recurrence compared with the lowest quartile of intake. The multivariate-adjusted 4-year mortality rates were 10.3% and 7.4%, and the 4-year recurrence rates were 11.2% and 8.0%, respectively, for women in the lowest and highest quartiles of soy protein intake. The inverse association was evident among women with either estrogen receptor-positive or -negative breast cancer and was present in both users and nonusers of tamoxifen. CONCLUSION: Among women with breast cancer, soy food consumption was significantly associated with decreased risk of death and recurrence"
• Spices may boost breast health: Study - Nutra USA, 12/9/09 - "curcumin, found in turmeric, and piperine, found in black peppers, decreased the number of stem cells while having no effect on normal differentiated cells ... If we can limit the number of stem cells, we can limit the number of cells with potential to form tumours ... normal, non-cancerous stem cells were unaffected by the compounds, which appeared to selectively target the cancer stem cells" - [Abstract] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and piperine extract at Amazon.com.
• Targeting breast stem cells with the cancer preventive compounds curcumin and piperine - Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Nov 7 - "Both curcumin and piperine inhibited mammosphere formation, serial passaging, and percent of ALDH+ cells by 50% at 5 muM and completely at 10 muM concentration in normal and malignant breast cells. There was no effect on cellular differentiation. Wnt signaling was inhibited by both curcumin and piperine by 50% at 5 muM and completely at 10 muM. Curcumin and piperine separately, and in combination, inhibit breast stem cell self-renewal but do not cause toxicity to differentiated cells. These compounds could be potential cancer preventive agents. Mammosphere formation assays may be a quantifiable biomarker to assess cancer preventive agent efficacy and Wnt signaling assessment can be a mechanistic biomarker for use in human clinical trials" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and piperine extract at Amazon.com.
• Soy Appears Safe for Breast Cancer Survivors - WebMD, 12/8/09
• Resveratrol Modulates Tumor Cell Proliferation and Protein Translation via SIRT1-Dependent AMPK Activation - J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Nov 20 - "Similar to those effects associated with caloric restriction (CR), resveratrol has multiple beneficial activities, such as increased life span and delay in the onset of diseases associated with aging ... Here, we show that resveratrol activated AMPK in both ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer cells ... Here, we show that resveratrol activated AMPK in both ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer cells. Once activated, AMPK inhibited 4E-BP1 signaling and mRNA translation via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Moreover, we also found that AMPK activity mediated by resveratrol in cancer cells was due to inducing the expression of Sirtuin type 1 (SIRT1) via elevation in the cellular NAD(+)/NADH in ER-positive cells. To our knowledge, we demonstrate here for the first time that resveratrol induces the expression of SIRT1 protein in human cancer cells. These observations raise the possibility that SIRT1 functions as a novel upstream regulator for AMPK signaling and may additionally modulate tumor cell proliferation. Targeting SIRT1/AMPK signaling by resveratrol may have potential therapeutic implications for cancer and age-related diseases" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• High Fiber Intake Linked to Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 10/2/09 - "Relative to the lowest quintile of total fiber intake, the highest quintile was associated with a 13% decreased risk of breast cancer"
• Recent, Vigorous Exercise Is Associated With Reduced Breast Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 10/1/09
• Diabetes Drug Fights Breast Cancer - WebMD, 9/14/09 - "And in mice carrying human breast cancers, metformin made standard chemotherapy vastly more effective. Mice treated with the combination remain cancer-free for four months, unlike mice treated with either drug alone ... A lot of data shows lower cancer risk -- not just breast cancer -- in people taking metformin for diabetes ... This drug at low doses can be considered a very good candidate for cancer prevention before a person has any cancer at all" - Note:  I've been taking metformin for years for anti-aging.  See my Insulin and Aging page.  See metformin at IAS.
• The Way You Eat May Affect Your Risk For Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 8/4/09
• Curcumin delays development of medroxyprogesterone acetate-accelerated 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumors - Menopause. 2009 Jul 22 - "Combined hormone therapy (HT) containing estrogen and progestin (medroxyprogesterone acetate [MPA]) leads to increased risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, compared with HT regimens containing estrogen alone or placebo ... Treatment with curcumin delayed the first appearance of MPA-accelerated tumors by 7 days, decreased tumor incidence by the end of the experiment, and reduced tumor multiplicity in DMBA-induced MPA-accelerated tumors. Curcumin also prevented many of the gross histological changes seen in the MPA-treated mammary gland. Immunohistochemical analyses of mammary tumors showed that curcumin decreased MPA-induced VEGF induction in hyperplastic lesions, although it did not affect the levels of estrogen and progesterone receptors" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Asian Spice Could Reduce Breast Cancer Risk In Women Exposed To Hormone Replacement Therapy - Science Daily, 7/13/09 - "curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could reduce the cancer risk for women after exposure to hormone replacement therapy ... curcumin delayed the first appearance, decreased incidence and reduced multiplicity of progestin-accelerated tumors in an animal model. Curcumin also prevented the appearance of gross morphological abnormalities in the mammary glands" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Fatty fish and fish omega-3 fatty acid intakes decrease the breast cancer risk: a case-control study - BMC Cancer. 2009 Jun 30;9(1):216 - "Using a multivariate logistic regression model, high intake of fatty fish was associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer in both pre- and postmenopausal women (OR [95% CI] for highest vs. lowest intake quartiles, p for trend: 0.19 [0.08 to 0.45], p < 0.001 for premenopausal women, 0.27 [0.11 to 0.66], p = 0.005 for postmenopausal women). Similarly, reductions in breast cancer risk were observed among postmenopausal subjects who consumed more than 0.101 g of EPA (OR [95% CI]: 0.38 [0.15 to 0.96]) and 0.213 g of DHA (OR [95% CI]: 0.32 [0.13 to 0.82]) from fish per day compared to the reference group who consumed less than 0.014 g of EPA and 0.037 g of DHA per day. Among premenopausal women, there was a significant reduction in breast cancer risk for the highest intake quartiles of omega-3 fatty acids (ORs [95% CI]: 0.46 [0.22 to 0.96]), compared to the reference group who consumed the lowest quartile of intake" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Adolescent and adult soy food intake and breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;89(6):1920-6 - "Adult soy food consumption, measured either by soy protein or isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with the risk of premenopausal breast cancer, and the association was highly statistically significant (P for trend < 0.001). The multivariate-adjusted relative risks (RRs) for the upper intake quintile compared with the lowest quintile were 0.41 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.70) for soy protein intake and 0.44 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.73) for isoflavone intake. High intake of soy foods during adolescence was also associated with a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer (RR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.97). Women who consumed a high amount of soy foods consistently during adolescence and adulthood had a substantially reduced risk of breast cancer. No significant association with soy food consumption was found for postmenopausal breast cancer"
• Teen soy intake linked to lower breast cancer risk - Nutra USA, 6/1/09 - "Adolescent intakes of soy foods were associated with a 43 per cent reduction in pre-menopausal breast cancer risk, while high intakes of soy protein and isoflavones were associated with 59 and 56 per cent reductions in the risk of breast cancer before the menopause" - [Abstract]
• Walnuts Fight Breast Cancer - WebMD, 4/21/09 - "Standard testing showed that eating walnuts cut the risk of developing breast tumors in half ... If mice did get breast tumors, the growth rate was also slowed, by 50% ... Extrapolating to humans, this would be about a nine-year delay"
• Relationship between selenium and breast cancer: a case-control study in the Klang Valley - Singapore Med J. 2009 Mar;50(3):265-9 - "Breast cancer risk decreased with the increasing quartiles of selenium intake, with odds ratios (95 percent confidence interval) of 2.95 (1.22-7.12), 2.17 (1.13-4.19) and 1.71 (0.84-3.52), respectively. However, the association diminished after adjustment for confounding factors ... it is essential for Malaysian women to achieve a good selenium status by consuming good food sources of selenium as a chemopreventive agent"
• Dietary carotenoids and the risk of invasive breast cancer - Int J Cancer. 2009 Feb 3 - "An inverse association observed among premenopausal women was for high levels of vitamin A (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.01), beta-carotene (OR: 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.009), alpha-carotene (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-0.98, p for trend = 0.07) and lutein/zeaxanthin (OR: 0.83, 95% CI 0.68-0.99, p for trend = 0.02). An inverse association was not observed among postmenopausal women. Among premenopausal women who reported ever smoking, these results were stronger than among never smokers, although tests for interaction were not statistically significant. Results from this study are comparable to previous prospective studies, and suggest that a high consumption of carotenoids may reduce the risk of premenopausal but not postmenopausal breast cancer, particularly among smokers" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com.
• Early soy intake may slash breast cancer risk later in life - Nutra USA, 3/30/09 - "By comparing the highest and lowest soy intake values for soy-based foods such as tofu, miso and natto, Korde and co-workers calculated that women with the highest soy intake during childhood (ages 5 to 11) had a 58 per cent lower risk of breast cancer as adults as the women with the lowest soy intake as children" - [Abstract]
• Childhood Soy Intake and Breast Cancer Risk in Asian American Women - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Mar 24 - "Comparing highest with lowest tertiles, the multivariate relative risks (95% confidence interval) for childhood, adolescent, and adult soy intake were 0.40 (0.18-0.83; Ptrend = 0.03), 0.80 (0.59-1.08; Ptrend = 0.12), and 0.76 (0.56-1.02; Ptrend = 0.04), respectively"
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil May Help To Combat Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 2/5/09 - "this study confirms the potentiality of polyphenols to inhibit HER2 activity and to promote its degradation"
• Glycemic load, glycemic index and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort of Swedish women - Int J Cancer. 2009 Feb 3 - "In analyses stratified by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status of the breast tumors, we observed statistically significant positive associations of carbohydrate intake, glycemic index and glycemic load with risk of ER+/PR- breast cancer; the multivariate relative risks comparing extreme quintiles were 1.34 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93-1.94; p for trend = 0.04] for carbohydrate intake, 1.44 (95% CI = 1.06-1.97; p for trend = 0.01) for glycemic index and 1.81 (95% CI = 1.29-2.53; p for trend = 0.0008) for glycemic load. No associations were observed for ER+/PR+ or ER-/PR- breast tumors. These findings suggest that a high carbohydrate intake and diets with high glycemic index and glycemic load may increase the risk of developing ER+/PR- breast cancer"
• Vitamin D Found To Stimulate A Protein That Inhibits The Growth Of Breast Cancer Cells - Science Daily, 2/5/09 - "Calcitrol, the active form of vitamin D, has been found to induce a tumor suppressing protein that can inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Indole-3-carbinol inhibits MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell motility and induces stress fibers and focal adhesion formation by activation of Rho kinase activity - Int J Cancer. 2008 Dec 15 - "Using chemotaxis and fluorescent-bead cell motility assays, we demonstrated that I3C significantly decreased the in vitro migration of MDA-MB-231 cells, a highly invasive breast cancer cell line" - See indole-3-carbinol at Amazon.com.
• Green tea may protect against breast cancer: Study - Science Daily, 1/27/09 - "Regular consumption of the beverage was associated with a “slightly decreased risk for breast cancer” of 12 per cent" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Drinking green tea modestly reduces breast cancer risk - J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):310-6 - "Compared with nondrinkers, regular drinking of green tea was associated with a slightly decreased risk for breast cancer (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.79-0.98)" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Breast cancer cell response to genistein is conditioned by BRCA1 mutations - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Jan 3 - "We showed that growth of BRCA1 mutant cells was strongly inhibited by genistein whereas it only had a weak effect in cells expressing wild-type BRCA1 protein. BRCA1 mutant cells hypersensitivity could be linked to higher expression of ERbeta gene, which suggests that genistein may be an efficient inhibitor of cancer development in BRCA1 mutant breast cancer cells"
• Prospective cohort study of lifetime physical activity and breast cancer survival - Int J Cancer. 2008 Nov 17 - "A decreased risk of breast cancer death and all deaths was observed among women in the highest versus the lowest quartiles of recreational activity"
• Urinary melatonin levels and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the nurses' health study cohort - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):74-9 - "An increased concentration of urinary aMT6s was statistically significantly associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (odds ratio for the highest versus lowest quartile of morning urinary aMT6s, 0.62 ... Results from this prospective study add substantially to the growing literature that supports an inverse association between melatonin levels and breast cancer risk" - see melatonin at Amazon.com.
• Tea consumption and risk of breast cancer - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):341-5 - "Tea consumption was not related to breast cancer risk overall (P for trend = 0.18). However, when stratified by age, an inverse association was observed among women less than 50 years: those consuming three or more cups per day had a 37% reduced breast cancer risk when compared with women reporting no tea consumption (age and study site-adjusted odds ratios, 0.63; 95% confidence intervals, 0.44-0.89; P = 0.01) with a significant test for trend (P = 0.01). The inverse association noted among younger women was consistent for in situ and invasive breast cancer, and for ductal and lobular breast cancer ... We observed evidence to support a potential beneficial influence for breast cancer associated with moderate levels of tea consumption (three or more cups per day) among younger women. Further research is needed to confirm this association"
• Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) Inhibits Expression of the Spot 14 (THRSP) and Fatty Acid Synthase Genes and Impairs the Growth of Human Breast Cancer and Liposarcoma Cells - Nutr Cancer. 2009;61(1):114-22 - "We conclude that as in bovine mammary and mouse adipose cells, CLA suppresses S14 and FAS gene expression in human breast cancer and liposarcoma cells. Rescue from the antiproliferative effect of CLA by palmitic acid indicates that reduced tumor lipogenesis is a major mechanism for the anticancer effects of CLA" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Breast Cancer: Diet High In Vegetables, Fruit And Fiber May Cut Risk Of Cancer Recurrence In Women Without Hot Flashes - Science Daily, 12/30/08 - "A secondary analysis of a large, multicenter clinical trial has shown that a diet loaded with fruits, vegetables and fiber and somewhat lower in fat compared to standard federal dietary recommendations cuts the risk of recurrence in a subgroup of early-stage breast cancer survivors – women who didn't have hot flashes – by approximately 31 percent. These patients typically have higher recurrence and lower survival rates than breast cancer patients who have hot flashes"
• How Certain Vegetables Combat Cancer - Science Daily, 12/23/08 - "Breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, can be protected against by eating cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and near relatives of cabbage such as broccoli and cauliflower ... Our paper focuses on the anti-cancer activity of one of these compounds, called sulforaphane, or SFN ... SFN inhibits the proliferation of human tumor cells by a mechanism similar to the way that the anticancer drugs taxol and vincristine inhibit cell division during mitosis ... SFN, like the more powerful anticancer agents, interferes with microtubule functioning during mitosis in a similar manner to the more powerful anticancer drugs ... SFN may be an effective cancer preventive agent because it inhibits the proliferation and kills precancerous cells"
• New Anti-cancer Components Of Extra-virgin Olive Oil Revealed - Science Daily, 12/17/08 - "Extra-virgin olive oil is the oil that results from pressing olives without the use of heat or chemical treatments. It contains phytochemicals that are otherwise lost in the refining process. Menendez and colleagues separated the oil into fractions and tested these against breast cancer cells in lab experiments. All the fractions containing the major extra-virgin phytochemical polyphenols (lignans and secoiridoids) were found to effectively inhibit HER2"
• Indole-3-carbinol Inhibits Sp1-Induced Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Expression To Attenuate Migration and Invasion of Breast Cancer Cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Dec 5 - "Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a major indole metabolite in cruciferous vegetables, has been shown to inhibit invasion of breast cancer cells ... Migration, invasion, and MMP-2 activity of MCF-7 breast cancer cells were dose-dependently inhibited by I3C. In addition, the MMP-2 mRNA level was also reduced by I3C ... In addition, I3C inhibited the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in MCF-7 cells. The results suggest that I3C inhibits MMP-2 expression by blocking the ERK/Sp1-mediated gene transcription to attenuate migration and invasion of breast cancer cells" - See indole-3-carbinol at Amazon.com.
• Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women - Int J Cancer. 2008 Oct 1 - "Compared with nonconsumers, the Odds ratios (Ors) were 0.36 (95% CI = 0.25-0.51) and 0.53 (0.38-0.73) for daily intake of >/=10 g fresh mushrooms and >/=4 g dried mushrooms, based on multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for established and potential confounders. There were dose-response relationships with significant tests for trend (p < 0.001). The inverse association was found in both pre- and postmenopausal women. Compared with those who consumed neither mushrooms nor green tea, the ORs were 0.11 (0.06-0.20) and 0.18 (0.11-0.29) for daily high intake of fresh and dried mushrooms combined with consuming beverages made from >/=1.05 g dried green tea leaves per day"
• Canola Oil May Affect Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 11/18/08 - "Could the type of oil a woman consumes during pregnancy influence her daughter's breast cancer risk years later? ... pregnant women may be better off choosing canola oil over most other vegetable oils ... Corn oil has 50% omega-6 and almost no omega-3, while canola oil has 20% omega-6 and 10% omega-3,""
• Vigorous Exercise Cuts Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 10/30/08 - "When we evaluated the relation of vigorous activity to breast cancer among women who were of normal weight ... the risk among women reporting the highest amount of vigorous activity decreased by about 30% compared with women with no vigorous activity"
• Caffeine Consumption Not Associated With Breast Cancer Risk In Most Women, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 10/13/08 - "Consumption of caffeine and caffeinated beverages and foods was not statistically significantly associated with overall risk of breast cancer"
• Vitamin D again linked to breast cancer protection - Nutra USA, 9/26/08 - "Increased intakes of the vitamin were associated with a 24 per cent reduction in the risk of developing ER+ and PR+ tumours" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Dietary intakes of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of breast cancer - Int J Cancer. 2008 Sep 9 - "Breast cancer risk was not related to any dietary PUFA overall; however, opposite associations were seen according to food sources, suggesting other potential effects than PUFA per se. Breast cancer risk was inversely associated with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) intake from fruit and vegetables [highest vs. lowest quintile, hazard ratio (HR) 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63, 0.88; p trend < 0.0001], and from vegetable oils (HR 0.83; 95% CI 0.71, 0.97; p trend 0.017). Conversely, breast cancer risk was positively related to ALA intake from nut mixes (p trend 0.004) and processed foods (p trend 0.068), as was total ALA intake among women in the highest quintile of dietary vitamin E (p trend 0.036). A significant interaction was also found between omega-6 and long-chain omega-3 PUFAs, with breast cancer risk inversely related to long-chain omega-3 PUFAs in women belonging to the highest quintile of omega-6 PUFAs (p interaction 0.042). These results emphasize the need to consider food sources, as well as interactions between fatty acids and with antioxidants, when evaluating associations between PUFA intakes and breast cancer risk" - Note:  Alpha-linolenic acid is the vegetable form of omega-3.
• Vitamin D intake and breast cancer risk: a case-control study in Italy - Ann Oncol. 2008 Aug 18 - "The OR for subjects in the three highest deciles of consumption compared with those in the lowest ones combined was 0.79 (95% CI 0.70-0.90). Intake of vitamin D >3.57 mug or 143 IU appeared to have a protective effect against breast cancer. The inverse association was consistent across strata of menopausal status ... This study adds to the existing evidence that vitamin D intake in inversely associated with breast cancer risk" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol May Prevent Breast Cancer - WebMD, 7/7/08 - "when the body's system for processing estrogen gets out of balance, dangerous estrogen metabolites appear. These toxic compounds react with DNA in breast cells and jump-start the growth of tumors ... resveratrol decreases the processing of estrogen into these dangerous compounds. Perhaps more importantly, it also blocks interactions between estrogen metabolites and cellular DNA ... And that's not all. Rogan's team finds that resveratrol increases production of an enzyme that destroys dangerous estrogen metabolites" - [Science Daily] - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Genistein protects against polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced oxidative DNA damage in non-cancerous breast cells MCF-10A - Br J Nutr. 2008 Jun 23:1-6 - "These enzymes, in turn, will metabolise the PAH into their ultimate carcinogenic forms. Genistein can significantly suppress the expressions within 5 mum. The comet assay indicated that DMBA introduced DNA damage to these cells, and co-treatment with genistein at 5 or 10 mum could alleviate the damage. In addition to the chelation of DMBA metabolites to DNA, flow cytometry results revealed that oxidation was also a factor of DNA damage. The oxidative DNA damage could be removed by co-treating with 10 mum-genistein. Because no increased oxidative DNA repair was observed, suppression on the cytochrome enzymes appeared to be the underlying mechanism"
• A Mixture of trans, trans Conjugated Linoleic Acid Induces Apoptosis in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells with Reciprocal Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jun 21 - "These findings suggest that incorporation of t, t CLA in the membrane induces a mitochondria-mediated apoptosis that can enhance the antiproliferative effect of t, t CLA in MCF-7 cells" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Genistein reduced the invasive activity of human breast carcinoma cells as a result of decreased tight junction permeability and modulation of tight junction proteins - Cancer Lett. 2008 Jun 14 - "Taken together our results indicate a possible role of genistein as an inhibitor of cancer cell invasion through the tightening of TJs, which may counteract the up-regulation of claudins. In addition, our results indicate that may be beneficial for the inhibition of tumor metastasis"
• Low Melatonin Associated with Increased Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women - Science Daily, 6/15/08 - "women with the lowest levels of melatonin had a statistically significantly higher incidence of breast cancer than those with the highest levels" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.
• Link Between Vitamin D Status And Breast Cancer Illuminated - Science Daily, 5/15/08 - "This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that higher serum levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced incidence rates of breast cancer worldwide" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Stay Fit, Avoid Breast Cancer? - WebMD, 5/12/08 - "the women whose activity equaled 13 walking hours a week or 3.25 running hours per week had a 23% lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer compared with the less active women. The strongest association was seen with increased exercise during adolescent and young adult years (ages 12-22)"
• Daily Aspirin May Cut Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 4/30/08 - "Overall, NSAID use wasn't associated with breast cancer risk. But women who reported taking daily aspirin were 16% less likely to develop estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer. Those tumors are fueled by estrogen; most breast cancers are estrogen-receptor positive"
• Dietary Lignans Improve Breast Cancer Survival - Medscape, 4/25/08 - "a high intake of lignans was associated with about a 50% reduction in mortality from all causes. This included cardiovascular disease and other cancers" - See flax seed at Amazon.com.
• Coffee May Protect Against Breast Cancer, Study Shows - Science Daily, 4/24/08 - "Depending on which variant of a certain gene a woman has, a coffee consumption rate of at least two-three cups a day can either reduce the total risk of developing breast cancer or delay the onset of cancer"
• High Blood Levels Of Vitamin D Protect Women From Breast Cancer, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/22/08 - "Women with a very low blood level of 25(OH)D have a considerably increased breast cancer risk. The effect was found to be strongest in women who were not taking hormones for relief of menopausal symptoms" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Veggies, Exercise May Cut Cancer Risk - WebMD, 4/15/08 - "Overall, women who engaged in recreational exercise 30 to 150 minutes per week were 50% less likely to have breast cancer than women who exercised less than a half hour per week"
• Green Tea Ingredient, EGCG, Significantly Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth In Female Mice - Science Daily, 4/7/08 - "Green tea is high in the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin-3- gallate) which helps prevent the body’s cells from becoming damaged and prematurely aged ... At the end of the five week period the researchers found that oral consumption of EGCG caused significant decreases in TCSA (66%), tumor weight (68%), IM density 155+/-6 vs.111+/-20 IM#mm^2) and VEGF protein levels (59.0+/-3.7 vs. 45.7+/-1.4 pg/mg) in the breast tumors vs. the control mice, respectively (N=8; P<0.01). Further, VEGF plasma levels were lower in EGCG mice than in control mice (40.8+/-3.5 vs. 26.5+/-3.8 pg/ml P< 0.01)" - [WebMD] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• CXCR4 and CXCL12 down-regulation: A novel mechanism for the chemoprotection of 3,3'-diindolylmethane for breast and ovarian cancers - Cancer Lett. 2008 Mar 28 - "Our data suggest that one mechanism whereby DIM protects against breast, ovarian, and possibly other cancers is through the repression of CXCR4 and/or CXCL12, thereby lowering the invasive and metastatic potential of these cells" - See diindolylmethane at Amazon.com.
• Aspirin Could Reduce Breast Cancer And Help Existing Sufferers, Review of Studies Suggests - Science Daily, 3/6/08 - "Anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin may reduce breast cancer by up to 20 per cent"
• Plasma Isoflavone Level and Subsequent Risk of Breast Cancer Among Japanese Women: A Nested Case-Control Study From the Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study Group - J Clin Oncol. 2008 Mar 3 - "We found a statistically significant inverse association between plasma genistein and risk of breast cancer, but no association for plasma daidzein. Adjusted odds ratios for the highest versus lowest quartile of plasma level were 0.34 for genistein (95% CI, 0.16 to 0.74; P for trend, .02) and 0.71 for daidzein (95% CI, 0.35 to 1.44; P for trend, .54). Median plasma genistein values in the control group were 31.9 ng/mL for the lowest and 353.9 ng/mL for the highest quartile groups" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Appears to Cut Breast and Colorectal Cancer Risk - Medscape, 2/12/08 - "Compared with a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level less than 10 ng/mL, a level of 50 ng/mL reduced the risk for breast cancer by 50%. This level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D would require an average intake of 4000 IU of vitamin D per day, although the authors note that intake of 2000 IU per day combined with sun exposure of approximately 12 minutes per day with 50% of the skin exposed could also help patients achieve a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 50 ng/mL" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Dietary Fiber Intake Inversely Associated With Breast Cancer Risk - Medscape, 2/8/08 - "Among ever-users of postmenopausal hormones, a significant inverse association was observed between intake of dietary fiber, especially from cereal products, and breast cancer risk for overall, ER+PR+, and ER-PR- tumors. The adjusted relative risk for all invasive tumors was 0.50"
• Coffee, tea, caffeine and risk of breast cancer: A 22-year follow-up - Int J Cancer. 2008 - "our results suggested a weak inverse association between caffeine-containing beverages and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer"
• The combination of epigallocatechin gallate and curcumin suppresses ERalpha-breast cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo - Int J Cancer. 2007 Dec 20 - "Tumor volume in the EGCG + curcumin treated mice decreased 49% compared to vehicle control mice (p < 0.05), which correlated with a 78 +/- 6% decrease in levels of VEGFR-1 protein expression in the tumors. Curcumin treatment significantly decreased tumor protein levels of EGFR and Akt, however the expression of these proteins was not further decreased following combination treatment. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the combination of EGCG and curcumin is efficacious in both in vitro and in vivo models of ERalpha- breast cancer and that regulation of VEGFR-1 may play a key role in this effect"
• Isoflavones may stop benign breast lumps: study - Nutra USA, 12/18/07 - "the highest plasma levels of genistein (more than 76.95 nanograms per millilitre) were 74 per cent less likely to have breast cancer, and 60 per cent less likely to have benign conditions, relative to women with the lowest average levels (less than 9.42 ng/mL)" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea Shown To Possess Antitumor Effect In Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 12/8/07 - "green tea has antitumor effect in breast cancer cells ... Dr. Maheshwari’s study observed that green tea can inhibit the invading capacity of these breast cancer cells and have also identified the mechanisms involved in death inducing and invasion inhibiting effects of green tea" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Intake of fruits, vegetables, and soy foods in relation to breast cancer risk in Korean women: a case-control study - Nutr Cancer. 2007;57(1):20-7 - "Increasing consumption of grapes was linked to a significant protective effect against risk of breast cancer (OR=0.66; 95% CI=0.41-0.86; P<0.01). Among the vegetables, reduced risk was observed with high tomato intake (OR=0.62; 95% CI=0.38-0.81; P<0.01). Among soy foods, high consumption of cooked soybeans, including yellow and black soybeans, had an association with reduced breast cancer (OR=0.67; 95% CI=0.45-0.91; P<0.02)"
• Differential expression of genes induced by resveratrol in human breast cancer cell lines - Nutr Cancer. 2006;56(2):193-203 - "The phytoalexin, trans-resveratrol (RES), is a polyphenolic compound found in plants and fruits that seems to have a wide spectrum of biological activities. It has been found to possess cancer chemopreventive effects by inhibiting diverse cellular events associated with tumor initiation, promotion, and progression. RES is also a phytoestrogen, which binds to and activates estrogen receptors (ERs) that regulate the transcription of estrogen-responsive target genes" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Low Calcium May Spur Breast Cancer Spread - oncologystat.com, 10/19/07 - "The study involved implanting breast cancer cells into mice and feeding them a low-calcium diet. The mice experienced a high bone turnover and showed a 43% increase in bone destruction, a 24% increase in tumor area, and a 24% increase in tumor cell proliferation compared to a control group"
• A case-control study on the dietary intake of mushrooms and breast cancer risk among Korean women - Int J Cancer. 2007 Oct 17 - "Both the daily intake (5th vs. 1st quintile, OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.30-0.78, p for trend 0.030) and the average consumption frequency of mushrooms (4th vs. 1st quartile, OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.35-0.82, p for trend 0.008) were inversely associated with breast cancer risk" - See maitake at Amazon.com and shiitake mushroom supplements at Amazon.com.
• Weight Gain Ups Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 10/22/07 - "If you had a weight gain early in life in the absence of weight gain later, it would not be risky in terms of breast cancer ... But weight gain any time after 35 is very predictive of postmenopausal breast cancer"
• Exposure To Sunlight May Decrease Risk Of Advanced Breast Cancer By Half - Science Daily, 10/18/07 - "We believe that sunlight helps to reduce women's risk of breast cancer because the body manufactures the active form of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight ... It is possible that these effects were observed only among light- skinned women because sun exposure produces less vitamin D among women with naturally darker pigmentation" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin supplement use and risk for breast cancer: the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study - Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2007 Oct 5 - "a 20% reduction in breast cancer risk was observed with vitamin E supplement use among women with low-dietary vitamin E intake ... A non-significant 20% risk reduction was observed among vitamin B supplement users with low B dietary intake (OR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.6-1.1). Frequent use of a vitamin B supplement was adversely associated with breast cancer risk among those with high dietary vitamin B intake (OR = 1.4"
• Breast Cancer Risk May Decrease With Increasing Duration of NSAID Use -  Medscape, 10/1/07 - "Use of NSAIDs was associated with a lower risk for breast cancer (odds ratio [OR], 0.76"
• Vitamin D intake and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women: the Iowa Women's Health Study - Cancer Causes Control. 2007 Sep;18(7):775-82 - "The adjusted RR of breast cancer for women consuming >800 IU/day versus <400 IU/day total vitamin D was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.77-1.03). RRs were stronger among women with negative than positive ER or PR status. The association of high vitamin D intake with breast cancer was strongest in the first 5 years after baseline dietary assessment (RR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.46-0.94 compared with lowest-intake group), and diminished over time"
• Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention? - WebMD, 9/5/07 - "The 2,000-IU daily dose of vitamin D suggested by the reviewers is currently considered the "tolerable upper limit" for vitamin D ... a projected 50% reduction in colon cancer incidence would require a universal intake of 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D3 ... A similar reduction in breast cancer incidence would require 3,500 IU per day"
• Dietary fiber intake and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer defined by estrogen and progesterone receptor status-A prospective cohort study among Swedish women - Int J Cancer. 2007 Aug 31 - "estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR)-defined breast cancer risk ... When comparing the highest to the lowest quintile, we observed non-significant inverse associations between total fiber intake and the risk of all tumor subtypes; the multivariate-adjusted RRs were 0.85 (95% CI: 0.69-1.05) for overall, 0.85 (0.64-1.13) for ER+PR+, 0.83 (0.52-1.31) for ER+PR- and 0.94 (0.49-1.80) for ER-PR-. For specific fiber, we observed statistically significant risk reductions for overall (34%) and for ER+PR+ (38%) for the highest versus lowest quintile of fruit fiber, and non-significant inverse associations for other subtypes of cancer and types of fiber. Among ever-users of postmenopausal hormone (PMH), total fiber intake and especially cereal fiber were statistically significantly associated with approximately 50% reduced risk for overall and ER+PR+ tumors when comparing the highest to the lowest quartile, but no association was observed among PMH never users"
• Study Shines More Light On Benefit Of Vitamin D In Fighting Cancer - Science Daily, 8/21/07 - "For the first time, we are saying that 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the United States alone ... The serum level recommended by the study would correspond to intake of 2000 International Units per day of vitamin D3 for a meaningful reduction in colorectal cancer" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Increased folate may slash breast cancer risk - Nutra USA, 8/9/07 - "women in the highest average intake group (456 micrograms of folate per day) had a 44 per cent lower risk of invasive breast cancer than women in the lowest average intake group (160 micrograms of folate per day)" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
• High folate intake is associated with lower breast cancer incidence in postmenopausal women in the Malmo Diet and Cancer cohort - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug;86(2):434-43 - "Compared with the lowest quintile, the incidence of invasive breast cancer was reduced in the highest quintile of dietary folate intake (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.90; P for trend = 0.02); total folate intake, including supplements (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.91; P for trend = 0.006); and dietary folate equivalents (HR: 0.59" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
• Breast Cancer: More Veggies Not Better - WebMD, 7/17/07 - "eating more than five daily servings of fruits and vegetables doesn't offer extra benefit"
• Diet And Exercise Key To Surviving Breast Cancer, Regardless Of Obesity, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 6/9/07 - "even if a woman is overweight, if she eats at least five servings of vegetables and fruits a day and walks briskly for 30 minutes, six days a week, her risk of death from her disease goes down by 50 percent"
• Vitamin D intake and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women: the Iowa Women's Health Study - Cancer Causes Control. 2007 Jun 5 - "Vitamin D intake of >800 IU/day appears to be associated with a small decrease in risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Preventing Breast Cancer? - Dr. Weil, 5/3/07 - "Take 2 grams of fish oil a day. High omega-3 fatty acid intake significantly reduces your risk of breast cancer" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Erythrocyte fatty acids and breast cancer risk: a case-control study in Shanghai, China - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1090-7 - "Our results support a protective effect of n-3 fatty acids on breast cancer risk" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin d and reduced risk of breast cancer: a population-based case-control study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Mar;16(3):422-9 - "We found strong evidence to support the hypothesis that vitamin D could help prevent breast cancer. However, our results suggest that exposure earlier in life, particularly during breast development, maybe most relevant"
• Dietary carotenoids and risk of breast cancer in Chinese women - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16 Suppl:437-42 - "higher intake of lycopene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin is associated to a lower risk of breast cancer among Chinese women"
• Plant Estrogen May Cut Breast Cancer - WebMD, 3/20/07 - "A diet rich in estrogen-like compounds found in flaxseed, tea, and many plants may help curb breast cancer after menopause ... Women with the highest lignan intake were 17% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer during the study than those with the lowest intake"
• Exercise Helps Prevent Breast Cancer - WebMD, 2/16/07 - "women who get more than six hours of strenuous exercise a week, and have no family history of breast cancer, may be 23% less likely to develop the disease than women who don't exercise at all"
• Vitamin D Appears to Cut Breast and Colorectal Cancer Risk - Medscape, 2/12/07 - "Compared with a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level less than 10 ng/mL, a level of 50 ng/mL reduced the risk for breast cancer by 50%. This level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D would require an average intake of 4000 IU of vitamin D per day, although the authors note that intake of 2000 IU per day combined with sun exposure of approximately 12 minutes per day with 50% of the skin exposed could also help patients achieve a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 50 ng/mL" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Backed For Cancer Prevention In Two New Studies - Science Daily, 2/8/07 - "Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, in which data from multiple reports is combined, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States ... The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Phytoestrogens and indicators of breast cancer prognosis - Nutr Cancer. 2006;56(1):3-10 - "In women with higher intakes of phytoestrogens, there was a 32% reduction in the odds of being diagnosed with any stage of cancer other than stage 1 (95% confidence interval, CI = 0.49-0.93; P = 0.02), a 38% reduction in odds of being diagnosed with positive lymphovascular invasion (95% CI = 0.40-0.95; P = 0.03), and a 66% increase in the odds of being diagnosed with a positive progesterone receptor"
• Low-Fat Diet May Help Breast Cancer - WebMD, 12/16/06
• Pro-vitamin E Shown To Be Active Against Breast Cancer Cells - Science Daily, 12/9/06 - "pro-vitamin E or alpha-tocopheryl succinate can reduce tumour volume in experimental animals with high levels of HER2"
• Soy, Fish May Cut Cancer Risk - WebMD, 11/14/06 - "Women who ate the most soy as teens or adults were about 25% less likely to have breast cancer than those who skimped on it"
• Control hormones to stop breast cancer - MSNBC, 10/27/06
• Vitamin D May Slow Breast Cancer - WebMD, 10/17/06 - "women with early-stage breast cancer had much higher levels of vitamin D in their blood than women with more advanced disease"
• Regular Exercise, Keeping Weight In Check Reduces Breast-cancer Risk In Postmenopausal Women - Science Daily, 10/12/06 - "women with high BMI and low physical-activity had mean estrogen concentrations that were 50 percent to 100 percent higher than that of women with low BMI and high activity levels"
• Idleness, Weight Up Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 10/10/06 - "postmenopausal women who exercise and keep their weight down substantially reduce their risk of breast cancer"
• Indole-3: A Broccoli Cure? - Dr. Weil, 9/15/07 - see my I3C page.
• Exercise May Up Breast Cancer Survival - WebMD, 9/11/06
• Ginseng linked to improved breast cancer outcomes - Nutra USA, 8/17/06
• Weight Gain May Increase Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 7/12/06 - "Women who gained about 55 pounds or more since age 18 were at a 45% increased risk of breast cancer, compared with those who maintained their weight ... Women who gained about 22 pounds or more since menopause were at an 18% increased risk of breast cancer ... Those who lost about 22 pounds or more since menopause (and kept the weight off) and had never used postmenopausal hormones were at a 57% lower risk of breast cancer than those who simply maintained their weight"
• Veggies may keep breast cancer from returning - MSNBC, 4/14/06 - "After about seven years, women who began with the highest levels of carotenoids in their blood showed 43 percent less risk of developing breast cancer again when compared to women with the lowest carotenoid levels"
• Food Antioxidants, Vitamin D Fight Breast Cancer - HealthDay, 4/7/06 - "postmenopausal women who consumed high levels of flavonoids, a class of antioxidants found in plants, had a 45 percent lower risk of breast cancer ... Those who had the highest levels of intake of kaempferol had a 38 percent decrease in the incidence of ovarian cancer compared to women with the lowest levels of this flavonoid ... those with the highest blood levels of a vitamin D metabolite known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D had a 50 percent reduced risk of breast cancer" - [Science Daily]
• Tea May Fight Ovarian, Breast Cancers - WebMD, 4/5/06 - "women who increase their consumption of kaempferol, a type of flavonoid, can lower their risk of ovarian cancer by nearly 40% ... women who consume a diet rich in other types of flavonoids - specifically, flavones, flavan-3-ols, and lignans -- can reduce their chance of developing breast cancer by 26% to 39%" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D linked to lower breast cancer risk - Nutra USA, 4/4/06 - "a serum vitamin D level of 52 nanograms per milliliter was associated with a 50 percent reduction in breast cancer risk. To have such a serum vitamin level would require a daily intake of about 1,000 International Units (IU)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Researchers Find Ginseng May Improve Breast Cancer Outcomes - Science Daily, 3/16/06 - "They also found significant improvements in both survival and quality of life measures in patients who used ginseng" - See ginseng at Amazon.com.
• Soy Phytoestrogens May Block Estrogen Effects - Science Daily, 1/16/06 - "the addition of high levels of dietary soy isoflavones tended to block estrogen effects in breast tissue. This finding suggests that postmenopausal women with higher levels of estrogen may derive the greatest benefit from soy"
• Consumption of coffee, but not black tea, is associated with decreased risk of premenopausal breast cancer - J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1):166-71 - "Among premenopausal women, consumption of regular coffee was associated with linear declines in breast cancer risk (P for trend = 0.03); consumers of >/=4 cups/d experienced a 40% risk reduction"
• Eat Dairy Foods, Avoid Breast Cancer? - WebMD, 12/14/05 - "Women who had the highest dietary calcium intake were 20% less likely to have been diagnosed with breast cancer than those whose diets were lowest in dietary calcium"
• Turmeric for Breast Cancer Prevention? - Dr. Weil, 12/2/05
• Breast cancer and dietary factors in Taiwanese women - Cancer Causes Control. 2005 Oct;16(8):929-37 - "Cases also consumed statistically significant less supplements such as vitamins and mineral than controls ... Our results indicate a strong protective effect of dietary supplements and a harmful effect of dietary fats on the risk of breast cancer among women in Taiwan"
• Primrose Oil Component Cuts Levels Of Cancer-causing Gene Her-2/neu - Science Daily, 11/4/05 - "Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a substance in evening primrose oil and several other plant oils used in herbal medicine, inhibits action of Her-2/neu, a cancer gene that is responsible for almost 30 percent of all breast cancers" - See borage oil at Amazon.com.
• Plant oil 'acts like cancer drug' - BBC News, 11/2/05 - "It is down to a substance in the oil called gamma-linolenic acid that acts on the same receptor in tumours as the powerful breast cancer drug Herceptin" - See borage oil at Amazon.com.
• Spice Ingredient May Cut Breast Cancer Spread - WebMD, 10/17/05
• Eat wisely to reduce breast cancer risk - MSNBC, 7/22/05 - "The women who followed a low-fat diet in this study reduced their risk of a recurrence during the next five years by 24 percent ... Keep in mind that omega-3 fats may be protective"
• Curry Spice May Curb Breast Cancer's Spread - WebMD, 6/9/05 - "Less than a quarter of the mice in the curcumin-plus-Taxol group had cancer that spread to the lungs. So did half of the curcumin group. In comparison, cancer spread to the lungs in three-fourths of the Taxol group and almost all (95%) mice that got no treatment" - See curcumin supplements at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 Offers Hope For New Anti-breast Cancer Drugs - Science Daily, 6/8/05 - "Compounds of Omega-3 fatty acids and propofol reduce the ability of breast cancer cells to develop into malignant tumours, inhibiting cancer cell migration by 50% and significantly reducing their metastatic activity ... Propofol is a potent anti-oxidant known to inhibit cancer cell migration by only 5-10%"
• Weight Gain Affects Breast Cancer Survival - Physician's Weekly, 5/16/05
• Statin Drugs Linked to Reduced Cancer Risk - WebMD, 5/16/05 - "During a six-year period, women who used statins reduced their risk of breast cancer by more than half (51%) compared with nonusers" - See Zocor at International Anti-aging Systems or SuperSaverMeds.com.
• Breast Cancer Protection Starts in the Womb - WebMD, 4/20/05 - "Mothers who choose foods packed with omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and while nursing and then feed their kids such a diet after weaning may reduce the risk of breast cancer in their daughters by nearly 90%, early research in mice indicates"
• Soy protein could protect against breast cancer, say researchers - Nutra USA, 4/13/05 - "Eating soy protein on a regular basis may reduce a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer by up to 22 percent"
• Disease-fighting Chemicals In Apples Could Reduce The Risk Of Breast Cancer, Cornell Study In Rats Suggests - Science Daily, 3/12/05 - "tumor incidence was reduced by 17, 39 and 44 percent in rats fed the human equivalent of one, three or six apples a day, respectively, over 24 weeks ... Studies increasingly provide evidence that it is the additive and synergistic effects of the phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables that are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities"
• An Apple a Day May Cut Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 3/2/05 - "For humans, the doses equaled eating one, three, or six apples per day ... After 24 weeks, breast tumor rates were 17% lower in the rats receiving the low dose of the apple extract, 39% lower with the medium dose, and 44% lower with the high dose"
• Seaweed May Lower Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/2/05
• Calcium, Vitamin D Intake Low among Breast Cancer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 12/14/04
• Anticancer Diet - Time, 11/15/04 - "eating at least 35 servings of fruits and vegetables a week can cut the risk of developing hormone-stimulated breast-cancer tumors by 35% in postmenopausal women ... leafy greens and colorful vegetables like carrots, squash, tomatoes and peppers, which are rich in lycopene and beta carotene, are especially potent cancer fighters"
• Exercise Boosts Recovery From Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 10/18/04
• Eating More Soy-rich Foods Could Reduce Spread Of Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 9/29/04 - "eating a soy rich products such as soy milk, soy drinks and desserts, could have an important role in preventing the spread of cancer cells in the body"
• Fish Oil's Breast Cancer Benefits May Vary - WebMD, 9/23/04
• How To Prevent Breast Cancer Anti-Cancer Power of Coenzyme Q10 - Life Extension Magazine, 1/96
• Anti-cancer Compound In Vegetables Found To Block Late-stage Breast-cancer Cell Growth - Science Daily, 9/1/04 - "The compound, in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables ... sulforaphane (SUL) ... We were surprised and pleased to find that SUL could block the growth of breast cells that were already cancerous ... SUL's actions appear similar to a group of anticancer drugs currently in use, such as Taxol"
• Overweight? Good Cholesterol May Fight Cancer - WebMD, 8/3/04 - "overweight, postmenopausal women with high levels of good HDL cholesterol have 67% less breast cancer than similar women with low HDL levels"
• Aspirin May Protect Against Breast Cancer - WebMD, 5/25/04 - "taking aspirin at least once a week for six months or longer reduced the risk of breast cancer by 20%, compared with women who never took aspirin. Taking a daily aspirin reduced risk by more than 25%"
• Role of vitamins in the risk, prevention, and treatment of breast cancer - Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Feb;16(1):19-25 - "High intake of folate or adequate circulating levels of folate may reduce the risk of breast cancer. Adequate folate levels may be particularly important for women who are at higher risk of breast cancer because of high alcohol consumption. The inverse association between vitamin D and risk of breast cancer needs to be evaluated in more studies" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
• Exercise Helps Breast Cancer Fight - Intelihealth, 3/29/04
• Diet has impact on breast cancer, say scientists - Nutra USA, 3/25/04
• Vitamin D to protect women - Nutra USA, 3/23/04 - "Now the researchers believe that a contributing factor to high rates of the cancer may be low levels of vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Does tea really fight cancer? - MSNBC, 11/21/03 - "A new study of the potential link of green tea consumption with lower risk of breast cancer does suggest a protective benefit. Asian-American women who averaged at least three six-ounce cups of green tea per week were about half as likely to develop breast cancer as those who drank none ... One of the strengths of this study is that researchers statistically adjusted for the effects of many other influences on breast cancer risk"  - See green tea extract at Amazon.com. - Ben
• Modest Exercise Lowers Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 9/9/03 - "exercising a mere 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours each week -- walking briskly or similar exercise -- reduced the risk of breast cancer by 18% compared with inactive women. That protective effect is only slightly less than the 22% reduced risk observed in women who exercise at least 10 hours a week"
• Burger Diet Raises Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 7/15/03 - "The increase was most closely linked with animal fat -- specifically from animal fat -- and, more specifically, red meat and high-fat dairy foods"
• High Cysteine Levels Linked to Lower Rates of Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 7/15/03 - "Women in the highest quintile for measured cysteine levels in this study had a 56% lower risk of invasive or in situ breast cancer than women in the lowest quintile ... The findings were more pronounced when only invasive cancer was considered ... Cysteine or its precursors might have the potential to be chemoprotective against breast cancer" - See iHerb cysteine products.
• NSAID Use Linked to Lower Rates of Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 7/15/03 - "Ten years or more of ibuprofen use reduced a patient's risk nearly in half (RR=0.51, P<0.04), and just 1 to 4 years of regular use was associated with a 29% reduction in risk. The effect of acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) was weaker, with 10 years of use of full-strength Aspirin associated with a 21% risk reduction that did not achieve significance ... Neither acetaminophen nor low-dose Aspirin was associated with a reduction in breast-cancer risk ... he found the evidence of a chemoprotective effect compelling enough to treat himself with 200 mg of ibuprofen per day" - See ibuprofen at Amazon.com.
• Best Bet for Breast Cancer Survivors? - Dr. Weil, 7/15/03
• Hormone Melatonin Slows Breast Cancer - WebMD, 7/14/03 - "The nighttime hormone melatonin puts breast cancer cells to sleep. It also slows breast cancer growth by 70%" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.
• Chemical in Miso and Other Soy Foods Believed to Block Certain Tumors - WebMD, 6/17/03 - "identified 21,852 women between the ages of 40 and 59 and surveyed them about various lifestyle issues ... They traced the women 10 years later ... Women with the most isoflavones in their diet had the lowest risk of breast cancer. This was especially true of postmenopausal women"
• Selenium Supplements May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk in Some - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "a certain version of the gene was associated with a higher breast cancer risk. That same gene was also less responsive to selenium stimulation ... that means people with this genetic variation may benefit from selenium supplements but they require a higher dose to achieve selenium's protective effect against cancer"
• Night Shifts May Raise Cancer Risk - WebMD, 6/3/03 - "Data from an ongoing study of almost 80,000 nurses already suggest that working nights increases a woman's risk of breast cancer ... a new analysis points to a similar association for colorectal cancer ... "The peak production of melatonin occurs at about 1 or 2 a.m." Exposure to light at night stops the production of melatonin" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.
• Dietary intake and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer - Cancer Causes Control 2003 Feb;14(1):19-27 - "Red meat intake was significantly associated with an increased breast cancer risk (p for trend = 0.002) and fish (including fried fish) and dairy product intake was inversely associated with breast cancer risk (p for trend = 0.04 and 0.05, respectively). No significant associations were noted betwen fruit or vegetable intake and breast cancer risk"
• Cholesterol Drugs: Breast Cancer Treatment? - WebMD, 4/10/03 - "One reason cancer cells grow so fast is that they lack biochemical brakes that slow cell growth ... Mevacor -- and, likely, other statins -- lets these growth-brakes build up inside cancer cells -- making them a potentially useful breast cancer treatment down the road" - Note: Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin but you should still check with your physician.
• Use of Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs Dramatically Reduces Risk of Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/03
• Folate, Vitamin B6 Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Among Moderate Drinkers - WebMD, 3/4/04 - "They found women with the highest folate levels were 27% less likely to have breast cancer than those with the lowest folate levels. And the reduction in breast cancer risk was much greater among women who drank about one glass of wine or a cocktail per day. These moderate drinkers with high folate levels were 89% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who drank less than one drink per day ... Women with high levels of vitamin B6 also had about a 30% lower risk of breast cancer than those with low levels of this nutrient. Although high levels of vitamin B12 seemed to protect premenopausal women against breast cancer, the effect was not found among postmenopausal women" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
• Eggs May Lower Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/20/03 - "eating about three eggs a week during adolescence decreased the risk of breast cancer by 18%. Diets rich in vegetable oils and dietary fiber had similar effects. But eating roughly one pat of butter a day increased risk by 6% ... eggs may be protective because they are high in essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. And studies suggest that fiber-rich foods reduce estrogen levels"
• Exercise Cuts Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/10/03 - "women who reported high levels of physical activity from as young as age 16 in some cases cut their risk of developing breast cancer after menopause in half, compared to women who reported no strenuous activity ... The study has a drawback, though, that all such studies face, which is what's called a "healthy patient bias." In this case, women who exercise often might be more apt to take care of themselves in other ways, so that a decrease in breast cancer later in life may not be due to the exercise itself, but rather some other associated factor. The researchers accounted for this by factoring in subjects such as smoking history and weight. "After adjusting for all these factors we're pretty confident that what we see is the effect of exercise,""
• Breast Cancer Answers: Strategies Show Promise In Mice - Intelihealth, 10/23/02 - "Another study found that young female mice who ate lots of fish oil had lower breast cancer rates"
• Eating Lots of Tofu May Prevent Breast Cancer - WebMD, 10/2/02
• Got Milk - WebMD, 9/27/02 - "A combination of soy and cow's milk could have some beneficial, anti-cancer nutrients ... She explains that conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, is the key to the cow's role in cancer prevention. CLA is a minor fatty acid found in milk and milk products and beef ... He says he thinks the most potent cancer-fighting component of soy is a compound called genistein ... He demonstrated that by feeding rats a diet containing genistein before exposing them to a cancer-causing drug. The number of breast tumors was reduced by 50%" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Diet Rich In Soy Protein Lowers Estrogens Associated With Breast Cancer - Intelihealth, 9/24/02 - "Consuming tofu and other soy-based foods significantly lowers levels of a class of estrogens normally associated with breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women ... The study found a link between soy-rich diets consumed by Asian women in Singapore and reduced levels of an estrogen called estrone, the predominant form of estrogen in women following menopause ... estrone levels did not decline in a linear manner with increasing soy intake; an apparent reduction was only seen among those in the top 25 percent of soy protein consumers ... The study also showed that hormone levels remained unaffected by other dietary and lifestyle choices. These included consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea, fat, fiber and various micronutrients, including vitamins A, C and E, along with calcium and carotenoids ... There is a suggestion that weight change (particularly weight increase) has a profound influence on breast cancer rates in Asian-American women"
• New Broccoli Compound Appears Promising Against Breast Cancer - Intelihealth, 8/19/02 - "Called oxomate, the synthetic compound works like its natural counterpart, sulforaphane, which was recently identified as a cancer-preventive agent in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts). Both compounds boost the body's production of phase II enzymes, which can detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and reduce cancer risk ... But the natural broccoli compound, sulforaphane, can be toxic in high doses ... It is also difficult and expensive to synthesize ... oxomate was seven times less toxic than sulforaphane ... In tests on female rats, those that were fed oxomate after exposure to cancer-inducing chemicals had up to a 50 percent reduction in the number of breast tumors"
• Breast Cancer May Be Thwarted By Carotenoids - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/02 - "These results suggest carotenoids may protect against development of breast cancer" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.
• Does Vitamin E Prevent Breast Cancer? - Life Extension Magazine, 5/02 - "premenopausal women with a family history who consumed the highest quantity of vitamin E enjoyed a 43% reduction in breast cancer incidence compared to only a 16% risk reduction for women without a family history of breast cancer.[11] Based on this study, vitamin E appears to protect against genetic- predisposed breast cancer better than environmental-induced breast cancer. (Note that nutrients like indole-3-carbinol may specifically protect against environmental breast carcinogens.)"
• What's Wrong With Vitamin E? - Life Extension Magazine, 5/02 - "Tocotrienols and breast cancer ..." - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• Exposure To Sunlight Lowers Risks Of Four Cancers - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/02 - "exposure to sunlight contributes to non-melanoma skin cancer. "By contrast, several ecological studies suggest that sunlight may protect against female breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancer, all diseases that contribute to a substantially higher proportion of cancer mortality in the western industrialized world." ... Some studies have suggested an association between circulating vitamin D in blood, which is largely derived from sunlight, or dietary vitamin D and colorectal, prostate and female breast cancers"
• Some Herbs Boost Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 3/26/02 - "Our studies show that dong quai and ginseng stimulate the growth of [breast cancer] cells"
• Serum Levels of Micronutrients, Antioxidants and Total Antioxidant Status Predict Risk of Breast Cancer in a Case Control Study - The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr. 132:303-306, 2002 - "Blood samples were collected from 153 breast cancer cases and 151 controls. Serum samples were analyzed for retinol, -tocopherol, lycopene, - and ß-carotene by HPLC, and total antioxidant status by the Trolox-equivalent antioxidant assay ... After adjustment for age at menarche, parity, dietary fat and alcohol intake, we observed the following reductions in odds ratios for breast cancer risk comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles: 0.47 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.24, 0.91] for ß-carotene; 0.53 (CI 0.28, 1.01) for retinol; 0.50 (CI 0.26, 0.97) for bilirubin and 0.47 (CI 0.24, 0.94) for total antioxidant status. We conclude that increased serum levels of ß-carotene, retinol, bilirubin and total antioxidant status are associated with reductions in breast cancer risk"
• Estrogen's Two-Way Street - Nutrition Science News, 11/01 - "Studies show that when 2-hydroxylation increases, the body resists cancer, and that when 2-hydroxylation decreases, cancer risk increases ... Cell-culture studies and human clinical trials have shown that I3C at doses of 200­400 mg/day can influence estrogen metabolism and promote formation of 2-OH-estrone, and therefore may be useful in breast cancer prevention"
• Green Tea, Glycine May Slow Tumor Growth - WebMD, 11/2/01 - "high levels of glycine reduced breast tumor growth rates by 15% in rats by blocking the growth of new tumor-feeding blood vessels. The special diet also reduced wound-healing by 30% ... Tumors and wounds have one very important thing in common -- they both produce new blood vessels through the same mechanism, known as angiogenesis ... If you can block one response, you can block the other"
• Acupuncture Relieves Nausea And Pain Following Major Breast Surgery - Intelihealth, 10/18/01
• Breast Cancer and the Night Shift: Is There A Link? - WebMD, 10/17/01
• Drink To Breast Health - Intelihealth, 10/9/01 - "Possible anti-cancer factors found in milk include calcium, vitamin D and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). A recent Finnish study found that women with breast cancer had significantly lower levels of CLA in their diets and blood, compared with women without breast cancer. CLA has been shown to block the local growth and spread of breast cancer in animal studies"
• I3C and DIM: Keys to Cancer Prevention? - Nutrition Science News, 4/01 - "Increased 16-alpha-hydroxyestrone production has been linked to an increase in breast cancer. Based on estrogen metabolism's influence on breast-cancer risk, researchers speculate that reducing hydroxylation of estrone's 16th carbon and increasing hydroxylation of the second carbon would be a wise, protective measure ... The minimum effective dose to increase the ratio of 2-hydroxyestrone to 16-alpha-hydroxyestrone was 300 mg/day ... Most of the research thus far has focused on I3C, a phytonutrient converted by stomach acid to DIM, indolylcarbazole, and other metabolites ... A 350­500 mg dose of I3C is roughly equal to 300­500 mg of raw cabbage or brussels sprouts or about 3 cups of broccoli"
• Newer Agents Offer Better Hot Flash Control In Breast Cancer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/01 - "If hot flashes are mild and/or the patient is risk averse, vitamin E (800 IU/day) is reasonable to try, because it is safe, inexpensive, and has some demonstrated efficacy. A reasonable next step is to use other non-hormonal agents that may have more efficacy than vitamin E, but also have the associated drawbacks of higher cost and worse side effects"
• A Muffin a Day for Breast Cancer? If It Contains Flaxseed Oil, May Have Benefits Similar to Potent Drug - WebMD, 12/8/00 - "the investigators found that flaxseed oil's ability to reduce tumor growth is comparable to tamoxifen." - See flaxseed
• Partial and complete regression of breast cancer in patients in relation to dosage of coenzyme Q10 -  Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1994 Mar 30;199(3):1504-8 - see my coenzyme Q10 page.

Other News:

• Permanent Hair Dyes and Chemical Straighteners May Be Linked to Breast Cancer, Study Says - Time, 12/4/19 - "Overall, using permanent dye was associated with a 9% higher risk of developing breast cancer, compared to non-use. But black women who used permanent dye had a 45% higher risk of breast cancer, compared to non-users, and those who used these products every eight weeks or more often had a 60% higher risk ... Black women were also far more likely to report using chemical straighteners—74% had, compared to 3% of white women—which were associated with an 18% higher risk of breast cancer in the study population as a whole"
• Stress hormones promote breast cancer metastasis - Science Daily, 3/13/19 - "Concentrations of the stress hormones cortisol and corticosterone were higher in mice with metastases that in those with no metastases. The scientists show that increased levels of these stress hormones activate the GR, which cause increased colonization and heterogeneity of the cancer cells -- and ultimately, shortened survival"
• Healthy women should take breast cancer pill, says NICE - BBC, 11/29/16 - "Trials show that per 1,000 patients taking anastrozole for five years, 35 cancer cases would be prevented compared with 21 for tamoxifen" - Note: I would think that Femara (letrozole) would be more effective and have less side-effects than the four they mention but it doesn't mention Femara (letrozole).
• Impact of statin use on cancer recurrence and mortality in breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Int J Cancer. 2016 May 13 - "In a meta-analysis of 10 studies, statin use was associated with improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.53- 0.79, I2 = 44%). Furthermore, this RFS benefit appeared to be confined to use of lipophilic statins (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.59- 0.89) as hydrophilic statin use was not associated with improvement in RFS (HR 0.80; 95% CI 0.44- 1.46). Statin users similarly showed improved overall survival in a meta-analysis with substantial heterogeneity (8 studies, HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.44-0.99, I2 = 89%). Statin users also had improved cancer-specific survival, although this relationship was measured with less precision (6 studies, HR 0.70"
  • Which Statin Is Right for My Patient? - Medscape, 8/28/07 - "Atorvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin are lipophilic, whereas pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and fluvastatin are more hydrophilic"
• Periodontal disease associated with increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women - Science Daily, 12/21/15 - "among all women, the risk of breast cancer was 14 percent higher in women who had periodontal disease ... Among women who had quit smoking within the past 20 years, those with periodontal disease had a 36 percent higher risk of breast cancer ... One possible explanation for the link between periodontal disease and breast cancer is that those bacteria enter the body's circulation and ultimately affect breast tissue"
• Cholesterol Levels May Be Linked to Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 7/7/14 - "The investigators determined that high cholesterol increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by 64 percent ... Future research may clarify how lipid [blood fat] levels, as well as other factors linked to obesity, like hormone and insulin levels, influence risk of breast cancer"
• Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among women from five ethnic groups with light to moderate intakes: The multiethnic cohort study - Int J Cancer. 2013 Sep 12 - "Higher alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels, has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in epidemiological studies ... we prospectively examined the association in 85,089 women enrolled in the Multiethnic Cohort in Hawaii and California ... mean follow-up of 12.4 years ... Higher alcohol consumption was associated with increased risk of breast cancer: compared to nondrinkers, HRs were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.06-1.42), 1.21 (95% CI: 1.00-1.45), 1.12 (95% CI: 0.95-1.31), and 1.53 (95% CI: 1.32-1.77) for 5-9.9, 10-14.9, 15-29.9, and ≥30 g/day of alcohol, respectively"
• Some Antihypertensives Linked to Breast Cancer Risk - Medscape, 8/5/13 - "Women who had taken calcium-channel blockers for 10 years or more had more than double the usual risk for invasive ductal breast carcinoma (IDC) (odds ratio [OR], 2.4) and for invasive lobular breast carcinoma (ILC) (OR, 2.6). The researchers also observed a possible association between the long-term use of ACE inhibitors and reduced risks for both IDC (OR, 0.7) and ILC (OR, 0.6), although the risk estimate for IDC was within the limits of chance ... The mechanism behind the apparent calcium-channel blocker effect is not known ... but some researchers suspect that these drugs might increase cancer risk by inhibiting apoptosis ... If the 2- to 3-fold increase in risk found in this study is confirmed, long-term calcium-channel blocker use would take its place as one of the major modifiable risk factors for breast cancer. Thus it is important that efforts be made to replicate the findings"
• Long Term Night Shifts Linked to Doubling of Breast Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 7/1/13 - "Working night shifts for 30 or more years doubles the risk of developing breast cancer, and is not confined to nurses as previous research has indicated ... The suggested link between breast cancer and shift work has been put down to melatonin, but sleep disturbances, upset body rhythms, vitamin D or lifestyle differences may also play their part"
• Coffee may help prevent breast cancer returning, study finds - Science Daily, 4/25/13 - "Patients who took the pill, along with two or more cups of coffee daily, reported less than half the rate of cancer recurrence, compared with their Tamoxifen-taking counterparts who drank one cup or less ... One theory we are working with is that coffee 'activates' Tamoxifen and makes it more efficient"
• Drugs Can Cut Breast Cancer Risk for Some, Task Force Finds - WebMD, 4/15/13 - "One of the report's key findings was that studies of tamoxifen reported a decrease in breast cancer incidence from 23.5 per 1,000 women in the placebo group to 16.5 per 1,000 among women taking tamoxifen over a five-year period ... Tamoxifen is more effective at reducing breast cancer risk, but it has more side effects ... there were five fewer cancers per 1,000 women taking tamoxifen when compared with raloxifene ... For tamoxifen, 8.6 per 1,000 women experienced a blood clot compared with 4.6 per 1,000 in the "control" group ... The rates of endometrial cancer, or cancer of the uterus, and cataracts were also higher for women taking tamoxifen, but not for those taking raloxifene"
• Alcohol Consumption Before and After Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Associations With Survival From Breast Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and Other Causes - J Clin Oncol. 2013 Apr 8 - "assessed pre- and postdiagnostic alcohol intake in a cohort of 22,890 women with incident invasive breast cancer who were residents of Wisconsin, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire and diagnosed from 1985 to 2006 at ages 20 to 79 years ... median follow-up of 11.3 years ... Overall alcohol consumption before diagnosis was not associated with disease-specific survival, but we found a suggestion favoring moderate consumption. There was no evidence for an association with postdiagnosis alcohol intake and breast cancer survival. This study, however, does provide support for a benefit of limited alcohol intake for cardiovascular and overall survival in women with breast cancer"
• Assessing insulin resistance can inform about breast cancer risk - Science Daily, 4/4/13 - "When tissues become resistant to the action of insulin -- which occurs often in obese people -- a balancing mechanism further increases insulin production leading to a chronic hyperinsulinemia. Such high insulin levels can be detrimental to the body because insulin not only regulates glucose metabolism but has more functions such as stimulating cell proliferation and survival. Therefore the continuous activation of insulin pathways can contribute to cancer development by fuelling cancer cell growth. Consistently, by analyzing a cohort of 410 patients and 565 healthy women, the researchers found that 49% of patients were insulin resistant compared with 34% of controls indicating that insulin resistance can indeed increase the risk of developing breast cancer"
• FDA Approves New Targeted Breast Cancer Drug - ABC News, 2/22/13 - "Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs"
• Use of antihypertensive medications and breast cancer risk - Cancer Causes Control. 2012 Dec 8 - "antihypertensive medications (AHTs) ... We re-evaluated the relationship between AHT use and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort of 3,201 women ≥65 years of age at recruitment now with more than double the length of follow-up (12 vs. 5 years) and substantially more breast cancer diagnoses (188 compared with 75 cases) ... Compared with women who reported no use of AHTs, women who had used calcium channel blockers (CCB) within the past two years had a 1.6-fold increased risk of breast cancer (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.0-2.5), and in particular, recent users of immediate-release CCBs had a 2.4-fold increased risk (95 % CI: 1.3-4.5). Neither ever nor recent use of any other type of AHT was associated with breast cancer risk"
• Most women who have double mastectomy don't need it, study finds - Science Daily, 11/27/12
• Certain jobs linked to increased breast cancer risk - Science Daily, 11/19/12 - "across all sectors, women in jobs with potentially high exposures to carcinogens and endocrine disrupters had an elevated breast cancer risk. Sectors with increased risk included agriculture, bar/gambling, automotive plastics manufacturing, food canning and metal-working. Importantly, premenopausal breast cancer risk was highest in the automotive plastics and food canning industries"
• Blood hormone levels predicted long-term breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women - Science Daily, 10/18/12 - "Women with hormone levels in the highest 25 percent for estradiol, testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) had a 50 percent to 107 percent greater chance for developing breast cancer compared with women in the lowest 25 percent. Relative risks for developing breast cancer were similar at one to 10 years versus 11 to 20 years (also 16 to 20 years) after blood collection ... Women in the highest 25 percent of SHBG levels had a 30 percent lower risk for breast cancer compared with women in the lowest 25 percent for SHBG levels"
• Given breast cancer, does breast size matter? Data from a prospective breast cancer cohort - Cancer Causes Control. 2012 Jun 14
• Target: Tumor - The Daily, 6/4/12 - "The new drug, T-DM1, was developed by Genentech, a unit of Swiss company Roche, and was tested on nearly 1,000 women with very advanced breast cancer ... It was found to delay the progression of breast cancer by several months, and after two years, 65 percent of women who received it were still alive, versus 47 percent of those in a comparison group given two standard cancer drugs ... About 84.7 percent of patients getting T-DM1 were alive after one year, compared with 77 percent of those in the control group ... T-DM1 caused fewer side effects than the other drugs did, and while some women on T-DM1 had signs of liver damage and lower levels of factors that help blood clot, most did not have the usual problems associated with chemotherapy ... People don’t lose their hair, they don’t throw up. They don’t need nausea medicines, they don’t need transfusions"
• Prevalence and risk factors for insomnia among breast cancer patients on aromatase inhibitors - Support Care Cancer. 2012 May 15 - "Insomnia complaints exceed 50 % among AI users. Clinically significant insomnia is highly associated with joint pain, hot flashes, anxiety and depression, age, and time since diagnosis"
• Why drinking alcohol is linked to breast cancer - Science Daily, 4/23/12 - "ethanol-treated human mammary cells had an increase in free radical production, oxidative stress and the activation of cellular mechanisms that cause cells to increase their proliferation rate ... So if you are a woman who naturally expresses higher levels of CYP2E1 and you consume alcohol, you would be at a greater risk for developing breast cancer than a woman who expresses lower amounts of CYP2E1"
• Statin Prescriptions and Breast Cancer Recurrence Risk - Medscape, 12/22/11 - "It is possible that some past incidence studies did not observe an association because a high proportion of statin users took hydrophilic drugs. For instance, Cauley et al.[16] observed a lower risk of breast cancer among lipophilic statin users, 82% of whom took either simvastatin or lovastatin (HR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.70 to 0.97); and Boudreau et al.[17] observed an inverse association with overall statin use, when approximately 48% of the study participants were simvastatin or lovastatin users (odds ratio = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.4 to 1.0).[17] However, Woditschka et al.[14] observed no association between statin use and breast cancer incidence in which most users were exposed to the lipophilic drugs simvastatin and lovastatin (odds ratio = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.97 to 1.08);[52] and Friis et al.[12] studied statin use and breast cancer incidence in a Danish population that overlaps with the population analyzed in our study (so simvastatin is expected to have accounted for a large proportion of the overall statin exposure) and also observed no association; (relative risk = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.76 to 1.36).[12] Although the apparent discordance between the statin associations with breast cancer incidence and recurrence may be explained by inadequate exposure characterization with respect to solubility, it is also important to realize that factors which prevent recurrence are not necessarily expected to also prevent incidence"
• Why women quit breast cancer drugs early: Side effects are so bad women end treatment and risk return of cancer, study finds - Science Daily, 12/9/11
• ‘Pink Glove Dance’ Take 3: Winning Video Announced - ABC News, 10/27/11 - "The company received 139 submissions from 40 states and Canada ... Medline asked visitors to its website to vote for the Top 3 videos. And this evening, the company shared its three winners with ABC News. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, S.C., took first place"
• Researchers examine 21-year series of nipple sparing mastectomy cases and find no cancers - Science Daily, 10/27/11
• Impaired glucose metabolism and diabetes and the risk of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer - Cancer Causes Control. 2011 Jun 19 - "Diabetes was associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer (HR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.04-1.43). An indication of a slightly elevated breast cancer risk was also found in postmenopausal women with impaired glucose metabolism (HR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.96-1.28). Diabetes (HR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.09-1.96) and impaired glucose metabolism (HR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.08-1.85) were associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer"
• Exemestane reduces breast cancer in high-risk women, researchers show - Science Daily, 6/4/11 - "The study showed that in postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer, but who have not previously been diagnosed with breast cancer, the aromatase inhibitor called Aromasin, made by Pfizer, reduces this risk by 65 percent compared with placebo" - Note: If you go the the abstract is says "Funded by Pfizer and others" and like it says, Aromasin (exemestane) is made by Pfizer.  I've always thought of Aromasin (exemestane) as being cheaper and less effective than Femara (letrozole) which is made by Novartis.  A good study would have included Femara.
• Beta-Blocker Use Is Associated With Improved Relapse-Free Survival in Patients With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer - J Clin Oncol. 2011 May 31 - "pathologic complete response (pCR) rates ... relapse-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) ... Patients who used BBs (n = 102) were compared with patients (n = 1,311) who did not. Patients receiving BBs tended to be older and obese (P < .001). The proportion of pCR was not significantly different between the groups (P = .48). After adjustment for age, race, stage, grade, receptor status, lymphovascular invasion, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor use, BB intake was associated with a significantly better RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.88) but not OS (P = .09). Among patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC; n = 377), BB intake was associated with improved RFS (HR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.87; P = .027) but not OS (HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.12 to 1.00; P = .05). CONCLUSION In this study, BB intake was associated with improved RFS in all patients with breast cancer and in patients with TNBC"
• Beta Blockers and Breast Cancer Mortality: A Population-Based Study - J Clin Oncol. 2011 May 31 - "Propranolol users were significantly less likely to present with a T4 (odds ratio [OR], 0.24, 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.85) or N2/N3/M1 (OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.88) tumor compared with matched nonusers. The cumulative probability of breast cancer-specific mortality was significantly lower for propranolol users compared with matched nonusers (hazard ratio, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.60). There was no difference in T4 or N2/N3/M1 tumor incidence or breast cancer-specific mortality between atenolol users and matched nonusers. CONCLUSION The results provide evidence in humans to support preclinical observations suggesting that inhibiting the β(2)-adrenergic signaling pathway can reduce breast cancer progression and mortality"
• C-reactive protein levels predict breast cancer survival rates, study finds - Science Daily, 6/1/11 - "The five-year survival decreased from 90% for low CRP to 74% for high levels of CRP, disease-free survival reduced from 87% to 74%, and deaths from breast cancer increased from 11% to 20% ... The five-year survival decreased from 90% for low CRP to 74% for high levels of CRP, disease-free survival reduced from 87% to 74%, and deaths from breast cancer increased from 11% to 20% ... While measuring CRP levels gives a general indication of health and longevity, measuring CRP levels for breast cancer patients seems to be an easy way to predict the severity of the patient's disease. This may allow clinicians to alter their treatment tactics and improve cancer survival rates"
• Anti-inflammatory drug may fight breast cancer - Science Daily, 5/5/11
• ACE inhibitors may increase risk of recurrence in breast cancer survivors, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "It's long been thought that inflammation fuels cancer growth in humans ... stress was biologically reprogramming the immune cells trying to fight the cancer, transforming them from soldiers protecting the body against disease into aiders and abettors. The study found a 30-fold increase in cancer spread throughout the bodies of stressed mice compared to those that were not stressed ... followed for an average of eight years ... In analyses that controlled for these differences in health issues, Ganz found that women exposed to ACE inhibitors had a significantly increased risk for recurrence, while those on beta blockers alone had a lower risk of recurrence"
• Biophysicist targeting IL-6 to halt breast, prostate cancer - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "There is an inherent connection between inflammation and cancer ... In the case of breast cancers, a medical review systematically tabulated IL-6 levels in various categories of cancer patients, all showing that IL-6 levels elevated up to 40-fold, especially in later stages, metastatic cases and recurrent cases ... The current research offers us an exciting new therapeutic paradigm: targeting tumor microenvironment and inhibiting tumor stem cell renewal, leading to a really effective way to overcome breast tumor drug resistance, inhibiting tumor metastasis and stopping tumor recurrence" - Note:  See the "Alternative News" section of my IL-6 page and my inflammation page for ways to reduce IL-6.
• Air pollution linked to breast cancer, study suggests - Science Daily, 10/6/10 - "We found a link between post-menopausal breast cancer and exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is a 'marker' for traffic-related air pollution ... Across Montreal, levels of NO2 varied between 5 ppb to over 30 ppb. We found that risk increased by about 25 per cent with every increase of NO2 of five parts per billion. Another way of saying this is that women living in the areas with the highest levels of pollution were almost twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those living in the least polluted areas" - SUVs!!!
• Stress accelerates breast cancer progression in mice, researchers find - Science Daily, 9/15/10 - "stress is biologically reprogramming the immune cells that are trying to fight the cancer, transforming them instead from soldiers protecting the body against disease into aiders and abettors. The study found a 30-fold increase in cancer spread throughout the bodies of stressed mice compared to those that were not stressed ... Beta blockers, used in this study to shut down the stress pathways in the mice, are currently being examined in several large breast cancer databases for their role in potential prevention of recurrence and cancer spread ... using beta blockers in stressed mice prevented the same cancer progression seen in the stressed mice that did not receive medication"
• Do cleaning products cause breast cancer? - Science Daily, 7/20/10 - "Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the lowest reported use. Use of air fresheners and products for mold and mildew control were associated with increased risk. To our knowledge, this is the first published report on cleaning product use and risk of breast cancer"
• Long-term metformin use is associated with decreased risk of breast cancer - Diabetes Care. 2010 Mar 18 - "The mean age was 67.5 (+/-std 10.5) years at the time of the cancer diagnosis. Long-term use of 40+ prescriptions (>5 years) of metformin, based on 17 exposed cases and 120 exposed controls, was associated with an adjusted OR of 0.44 (95% CI 0.24-0.82) for developing breast cancer, as compared to no use of metformin"
• Statins and Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women without Hormone Therapy - Anticancer Res. 2009 Dec;29(12):5143-5148 - "Overall, there was no association between the use of statins and breast cancer risk odds ratio (OR)=1.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.7-2.5). However, risk varied by hormone receptor status. Compared to non-users, obese women who used hydrophobic statins had an elevated risk of progesterone receptor-negative (PR(-)) breast cancer OR=4.0 (95% CI 1.2-13.8), but not of tumors with other hormone receptor profiles. The risk for breast cancer was also significantly increased among overweight women who used hydrophobic statins for less than or equal to 4 years OR=4.1 (95% CI 1.2-14.4). CONCLUSION: This observational study found an increased risk of breast cancer related to duration of statins use and PR(-) among postmenopausal women"
• Decline in breast cancer: Not just because of hormone therapy - Science Daily, 12/7/09 - "the change in hormone therapy use only accounted for a decline of about 3 percent, so there's another 4 percent that is being caused by something we do not yet know"
• Pregnancy Protein May Slow Breast Cancer - WebMD, 11/24/09
• 9/21/09
• Treating Bone Loss In Breast Cancer Survivors: Cancer Drugs Aren't The Only Culprits - Science Daily, 9/21/09
• Medications Effective In Reducing Risks For Breast Cancer Can Also Cause Serious Side Effects - Science Daily, 9/18/09 - "The most common side effects for tamoxifen are flushing and other vasomotor symptoms (e.g., night sweats, hot flashes), vaginal discharge and other vaginal symptoms such as itching or dryness; for raloxifene, side effects include vasomotor symptoms and leg cramps; and for tibolone, side effects include vaginal bleeding ... Tamoxifen increases risks of endometrial cancer, hysterectomies and cataracts compared with the other drugs. Tamoxifen and raloxifene increase risk of blood clots, although tamoxifen's risk is greater. Tibolone carries an increased risk of stroke"
• Metabolic Factors May Play A Role In Risk For Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 6/30/09 - "The metabolic syndrome is characterized by elevated insulin levels, and in recent years scientists have proposed that insulin may contribute directly or indirectly to the development of breast cancer ... women who had the metabolic syndrome during the three to five years prior to breast cancer diagnosis had roughly a doubling of risk ... Findings also showed significant associations with elevated blood glucose levels, triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure. For diastolic blood pressure, the result was stronger, with more than a two-fold increased risk (relative risk = 2.4). Generally, for both triglycerides and glucose the relative risk was about 1.7 for all breast cancer"
• Breast Cancer Gene Can Be Blocked By Blood Pressure Drug - Science Daily, 6/1/09 - "The gene, called AGTR1, caused normal breast cells to behave like cancer cells. This behavior was reversed by treatment with the blood pressure drug losartan. Tumors in mice that expressed AGTR1 shrunk by 30 percent eight weeks after treatment with losartan"
• Low-risk factor profile, estrogen levels, and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women - Int J Cancer. 2008 Nov 7 - "the risk of breast cancer was markedly lower for women with a favourable risk profile than for other women and lower estrogen levels is a possible explanation"
• Sex Hormone Levels, Breast Cancer Risk, and Cancer Receptor Status in Postmenopausal Women: the ORDET Cohort - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):169-76 - "This study provides further evidence that high levels of circulating testosterone increase the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The cancers that develop are mainly estrogen receptor positive. Although HER2(+) and HER2(-) breast cancers were both associated with high total testosterone, they showed opposing associations with estrogen"
• High Insulin Level Is An Independent Risk Factor For Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 12/31/08 - "women with the highest insulin levels had nearly a 1.5-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer than the women with the lowest insulin levels. Further, the investigators separately analyzed women who were not using hormone therapy and found that, in these women, those individuals with the highest insulin levels had a 2.4-fold increased risk of developing breast cancer compared to those with the lowest levels, even after accounting for multiple other breast cancer risk factors, including estrogen levels"
• Psychological Distress May Increase Risk of Breast Cancer - Medscape, 9/15/08 - "The team evaluated interactions between breast cancer and severe life events -- such as loss of a parent or divorce of parents before age 20, or loss of a close relative or spouse -- and mild to moderate life events -- e.g., separation from a spouse, loss of a job, an economic crisis, or severe illness in a close relative ... Multivariate analysis revealed a positive association (odds ratio, 1.62) between exposure to more than one adverse life event and breast cancer. "It wasn't enough to be exposed to one life event, a woman had to be exposed to more than one event,""
• Metformin Increases Pathologic Complete Response Rates In Breast Cancer Patients With Diabetes - Science Daily, 6/2/08 - "the pathologic complete response rates in the diabetic breast cancer patients taking Metformin was 24 percent, three times higher than the rates in diabetic patients not taking the drug, 8 percent. In the non-diabetic women, the pathologic complete response rate was 16 percent"
• Bone Drug Prevents Breast Cancer Return - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "Zometa creates a tumor-hostile environment that helps to keep cancer away, and it is very safe"
• New Type Of Drug Shrinks Primary Breast Cancer Tumors Significantly In Just 6 Weeks, Study Shows - Science Daily, 4/17/08
• Synthetic Vitamin D Helps Prevent Some Breast Cancers, Animal Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/14/08 - "daily injections of Gemini 0097 cut growth of ER-positive cancer by 60 percent in rat studies, and reduced ER-negative breast cancer by half in mice"
• Metformin May Have Novel Role as Breast Cancer Drug - oncologystat.com - "In one recent hypothesis-generating metformin study, Dr. Josie M.M. Evans and coworkers at the University of Dundee (Scotland) evaluated roughly 11,876 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, of whom 923 were subsequently diagnosed with cancer. The adjusted relative risk of malignancy in long-term metformin users was reduced by 44%, compared with nonusers ... In another population-based cohort study ... In another population-based cohort study, investigators at the Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alta., identified 10,309 Saskatchewanians with type 2 diabetes. During an average of 5.4 years of follow-up after their diagnosis, 407 cancer-related deaths occurred. Cancer mortality was 3.5% in metformin users, 5.8% in insulin users, and 4.9% in individuals on sulfonylurea monotherapy. After adjustment in a multivariate Cox regression analysis, cancer-related mortality was 30% greater in sulfonylurea users than in metformin users. In insulin users, it was 90% higher than in metformin users" - See Metformin at OffshoreRx1.com.
• Acrylamide In Food May Increase The Risk Of Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 1/11/08 - "Acrylamide is a chemical formed when frying, roasting, grilling or baking carbohydrate-rich foods at temperatures above 120°C. Acrylamide is thus found in a number of foods, such as bread, crisps, French fries and coffee. Tobacco smoking also generates substantial amounts of acrylamide ... The risk of breast cancer doubles with a tenfold increase in the acrylamide-haemoglobin level. A tenfold increase in the acrylamide-haemoglobin level corresponds more or less to the difference measured between the women with the lowest and highest exposure"
• Agent Reduces Breast Cancer Risk in Two Groups of Women - Physician's Weekly Article, 12/17/07 - "raloxifene hydrochloride reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer by 44% to 71% by blocking estrogen receptors in the breast"
• Alcohol Amount, Not Type -- Wine, Beer, Liquor -- Triggers Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 9/27/07 - "women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day increased their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent compared with light drinkers who drank less than one drink a day. The risk of breast cancer increased by 30 percent in women who drank more than three drinks a day"
• Grapefruit link to breast cancer - BBC News, 7/16/07 - "eating just a quarter of a grapefruit daily raised the risk by up to 30% ... The fruit is thought to boost levels of oestrogen - the hormone associated with a higher risk of the disease"
• Meat, Sweets Boost Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 7/10/07 - "A meat-sweet diet raised the risk [of breast cancer] by 60% in postmenopausal women ... it would be prudent at the minimum to stay away from a diet heavy in meat, processed grains, sweets, and desserts"
• Strong Link Between Breast Cancer And Hormone Replacement Therapy Found - Science Daily, 4/18/07 - "At best, based on this analysis, an individual woman could reduce her individual risk of developing breast cancer by one in 60, or about 1.7 percent, if she stopped using hormones"
• High-Fat Diet Linked to Breast Cancer - WebMD, 3/20/07 - "Compared with women whose diets averaged 20% of calories from fat, women who derived roughly 40% of their calories from fat sources had a 15% increased risk for developing breast cancer"
• Red meat raises breast cancer risk - MSNBC, 11/13/06 - "Women who ate more than 1½ servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week"
• Raloxifene Reduces Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women at All Risk Levels - Doctor's Guide, 9/13/06 - "use of raloxifene was associated with a 58 percent reduction in breast cancer risk in women without a family history of the disease, and an 89 percent reduction in risk for women with a family history of breast cancer" - See raloxifene at OffshoreRx1.com.
• Cytogen Launches First Oral Liquid Formulation of Hormonal Therapy for Breast Cancer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/17/06
• Regular Use Of Selective COX-2 Inhibitors Decreases Risk Of Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 1/30/06 - "a daily dose of 200 mg celecoxib reduced the risk of breast cancer by 83% and a daily dose of 25 mg rofecoxib reduced the risk of breast cancer by 64%. Regular use of non-selective COX-2 inhibitors - aspirin (325 mg), ibuprofen (200mg) and naproxen (250 mg) - also significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer, but less so than regular intake of selective COX-2 inhibitors"
• How hormones can affect breast cancer risk - MSNBC, 9/9/05 - "Research also consistently links high levels of the hormone insulin and insulin-like growth factors with increased rates of breast cancer, at least after menopause"
• Breast Cancer Easier To Miss In Women On HRT - CBS 2 Chicago, 5/25/05 - "found an increased chance that cancer may be missed among women on HRT. That may be because some of their breast tissue is more dense, making the cancer more difficult to find"
• Statin Use Linked to 51% Reduction in Breast Cancer - Medscape, 5/20/05 - "The beneficial effect is seen in more than four years of statin use ... In both the prostate and lung cancer studies, there was a 48% to 54% risk reduction in cancer associated with statin use" - See Lipitor at SuperSaverMeds.com.
• Doxorubicin/Cyclophosphamide as Effective as Doxorubicin/Docetaxel (AT) for Early-stage Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 5/16/05
• Low-Fat Diet May Cut Return of Breast Cancer - WebMD, 5/16/05 - "At five years, less than 10% of those on the low-fat diet had their cancer recur. Twelve percent of the women who continued on their usual diet had cancer recurrence during this time. This translates to about a 24% reduction in risk"
• Regular Alcohol Intake Ups Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 5/16/05 - "Women who drank a glass or two a day faced a 21% increased risk of breast cancer ... Those who drank more than two drinks a day were 37% more likely to develop breast cancer ... the risk was much greater in menopausal women"
• Breast-cancer Risk Linked To Exposure To Traffic Emissions At Menarche, First Birth - Science Daily, 4/30/05 - "higher exposure around the time of first menstruation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), potential carcinogens found in traffic emissions, was associated with increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer"
• Underactive Thyroid Cuts Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/14/05 - "an underactive thyroid was shown to protect against developing breast cancer. The study also showed that women who developed breast cancer and who had an underactive thyroid had a less aggressive disease compared with women with a normally functioning thyroid"
• Low levels of HDL cholesterol linked to breast cancer risk - US News, 12/1/04 - "Women with high HDL levels were 25 percent less likely to get postmenopausal breast cancer than women with low HDL cholesterol. The difference was even bigger for women who were overweight"
• Study Links High Carbohydrate Diet To Increased Breast Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 8/6/04 - "those who derived 57 or more percent of their total energy intake from carbohydrates incurred a risk of breast cancer 2.2 times higher than women with more balanced diets"
• Cholesterol Drugs: Cancer Fighters? - WebMD, 4/26/04 - "taking statins appeared to decrease the risk of breast cancer by 30% in postmenopausal women"
• Wine, Fat Intake Linked to Breast Cancer - WebMD, 3/17/04 - "women who drank about 1.5 glasses of wine a day were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with women who drank less ... drinking women can mitigate this risk by taking a multivitamin Containing folic acid every day ... women who gain 20 to 30 pounds after high school have a 40% increase in breast cancer risk"
• Potential Relief from Fatigue in Breast Cancer Treatment - Physician's Weekly, 9/1/03 - "fatigued survivors had T-cell numbers that were 31% higher than those of non-fatigued survivors. Conversely, the two groups did not differ in the number of other types of immune cells"
• Breast Cancer Risk Increases with Consumption of Red Meat, Dairy Products - Doctor's Guide, 7/28/03 - "derived from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) II ... total fat intake during premenopausal years was not associated with the risk of breast cancer. However, a significant association was found between animal fat intake and breast cancer risk"
• Additional Chemotherapy and Stem-Cell Transplantation Does Not Improve Outcome for Breast-Cancer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 7/21/03
• High-Fat Diet, Breast Cancer Linked - CBS News, 7/17/03 - "those who average more than 90 grams of fat a day have roughly double the risk of those who eat just 37 grams" - That's another area that hasn't been fully researched regarding the Atkin's diet.
• Link Eyed Between Beef And Cancer - CBS News, 5/21/03 - "beef cattle are given growth hormones to make them fatter faster, to save money ... questions are being raised about one of the most widely-used hormones, Zeranol, a synthetic estrogen implanted in cattle. A series of tests done for the Pentagon show a possible link between breast cancer and Zeranol"
• Study: Tamoxifen Could Benefit 2 Million Women - Intelihealth, 4/2/03 - "Tamoxifen is a breast cancer treatment that also can cut by almost half a still-healthy woman's risk of developing the disease. Deciding to use it preventively is a tough choice, however, because tamoxifen can cause uterine cancer and potentially fatal blood clots" - #1 drugstore (no affiliation) usually has good prices on drugs that have gone generic.  Check with your doctor first.
• Anti-estrogenic Effects of Hormonal Therapy May Impair Verbal Memory in Breast Cancer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/17/03 - "the women from the ATAC trial were significantly impaired on measures of verbal memory and processing speed, as compared with the controls. "And when hormone-replacement therapy in each group was accounted for, the deficits [in the ATAC patients] remained significant," ... animal studies show that estrogen levels affect the structure and function of the hippocampus and frontal lobes of the cortex, which are important for consolidating new memories. And some studies examining the effects of hormone replacement therapy in healthy postmenopausal women show it improves verbal memory and attention"
• Study Finds Breast Cancer Risk Due to Progestins in HRT - WebMD, 3/5/03 - "Women who take combination hormone replacement therapy for more than four years are at very high risk of breast cancer compared with women who have never used HRT. But estrogen-only HRT is virtually free of breast-cancer risk"
• Diet in Puberty Affects Hormone Levels - WebMD, 1/14/03 - "Small changes in diet during puberty can have a big effect on levels of estrogen and other hormones that have been implicated in boosting breast cancer risk in women, raising hope that girls may be able to eat their way to a lower risk decades later"
• Estradiol Alone Does Not Increase Breast Cancer Risk - Doctor's Guide, 12/16/02 - "Hormone replacement therapy containing progestins significantly elevates breast cancer risk, but preparations containing estradiol alone do not, a large Swedish observational study suggests"
• Hormone Therapy, Alcohol Use Studied - Intelihealth, 11/19/02 - "a postmenopausal woman who has a lifetime breast cancer risk of 4 percent could increase the risk to 8 percent if she drinks and takes hormones"
• Rising breast cancer rate fuels environmental concerns - MSNBC, 10/23/02 - "Breast cancer jumped by 72 percent among Marin [County, Calif.] women ages 46 to 64 during the 1990s ... Common pollutants, such as benzene, a compound found in car exhaust, are linked to breast tumors, and people who move to industrialized counties suddenly face a higher breast cancer risk within one generation ... In the case of breast cancer, new diagnoses have, in fact, been growing at a rate of .6 percent per year nationwide"
• Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug Use May Slow Breast Cancer Tumour Growth, Prevent Distant Metastasis - Doctor's Guide, 9/30/02 - "increasing NSAID use may retard the growth of breast tumours and may prevent distant metastasis"
• Estrogen Therapy Appears Safe For Women With Early Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 9/10/02 - "Estrogen replacement therapy does not appear to increase risk of recurrence or death in women with early breast cancer"
• Study backs use of mammograms - USA Today, 8/1/02 - "Among screened women between 40 and 69, the breast cancer death rate dropped 44% after mammography became routine ... But breast cancer activist Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco, calls the benefit of early detection "a myth.""
• Breast Cancer Rising Among Asian-American Women - Doctor's Guide, 6/10/02 - "The Japanese lifestyle has become increasingly Westernized, study authors note, influencing factors known to increase risk for breast cancer: having fewer children, engaging in less physical activity and experiencing increasing obesity. Japanese are also eating more fats and fewer soy products"
• Moderate Drinking Increases Insulin Sensitivity In Non-Diabetic, Older Women - Doctor's Guide, 5/16/02 - "Researchers warn, however, that the alcohol intake significantly increased serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate and estrone sulphate, steroid hormones known to be risk factors for breast cancer"
• High Levels of Sex Hormones Raise Breast Cancer Risk in Older Women - Doctor's Guide, 4/17/02 - "Postmenopausal women with high amounts of oestrogen and testosterone in their bloodstream are at over twice the risk of the disease as those with low levels of the hormones ... obesity is the biggest known reason for high levels of sex hormones among postmenopausal women ... women with raised levels of a molecule called sex hormone binding globulin, which reduces the activity of sex hormones, were at lower than usual risk. Interestingly, women who are obese have low levels of this molecule, which probably also helps to raise their risk of breast cancer"
• Study Confirms HRT Ups Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/12/02 - "The risk of ductal cancer -- the most common form of breast cancer -- increases by 50% in women who have used HRT for five recent years ...If our results are correct, then nonusers of HRT would have an incidence of ductal cancer of about 230 per 100,000 women per year, whereas women with five years of recent HRT use would have a rate of 349 per 100,000 women per year"
• Breast Cancer Survivors Finally Have Weapon Against Menopause, Antidepressants Relieve Hot Flashes - WebMD, 10/4/01 - "breast cancer survivors treated with the antidepressant Effexor had a 60% reduction in hot flashes. The widely prescribed antidepressants Prozac and Paxil also appear to be effective"
• Hormones may cut risk for breast cancer patients - USA Today, 5/15/01 - "Hormone replacement therapy after a diagnosis of breast cancer does not increase the risk of recurrence of the disease and may even lower chances that the cancer will return"
• Breast Cancer Drug Does Not Cause Sexual and Mood Effects - WebMD, 3/29/01 - "While the study found no side effects related to sexuality or mood, it did find that women taking tamoxifen had more menopauselike symptoms"
• Another Link Between Cox-2 Expression and Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/01 - "This finding leaves the door open to studies that would determine whether treatment with COX-2 inhibitors might somehow affect tumor progression"
• Light May Help Find Breast Cancer - Intelihealth, 3/19/01
• Study Raises Safety Issues With Cancer Drug - Intelihealth, 3/16/01 - "Herceptin and doxyrubicin together seemed to affect the hearts of test patients, causing fatigue, shortness of breath and other symptoms ... these side effects do not occur when Herceptin is given with two other chemotherapy agents, taxotere and carboplatin ... early administration of Herceptin might breed tumors resistant to the drug, rendering it useless when current treatments fail and Herceptin is needed for late-stage cancers"
• Good News for Breast Cancer Survivors - WebMD, 3/16/01 - "They actually may have less risk of developing colon or rectal cancer than women who have not had breast cancer"
• Herceptin Offers Hope for Some Women With Advanced Breast Cancer, Biotech Drug Shrinks Aggressive Tumors, Improves Chemotherapy - WebMD, 3/14/01 - "Herceptin, a bioengineered antibody developed by Genentech Inc., clicks onto the HER2 molecules that studded the surface of Empey's stubborn breast cancer cells. This blocks HER2 from sending the signals that help cancer cells grow and spread. The result is often that the tumors shrink and wither away."
• Prognosis Not So Bright For New Breast Disease Drug (Iogen for fibrocystic breast disease) - Intelihealth, 2/16/01 - "iodine rids women suffering from FBD of symptoms. Two unrelated studies, one in Canada and one in Russia, involving nearly 1,500 women, showed iodine reduced the number of cysts and the level of pain. . . . Iogen contains no iodine, but when it is broken down by the body, it becomes molecular iodine. And unlike the iodine found in foods, which is toxic to the thyroid in large quantities, Iogen seems to deliver large doses of pure iodine without dangerous side effects."
• Anti-depressant (Effexor®/venlafaxine) counters hot flashes from menopause, chemotherapy - CNN, 12/15/00 - ""I think it represents the best of the non-hormonal options for treating hot flashes in women with breast cancer.""