Article

Nutritional factors and cancers of the breast, endometrium and ovary.

Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy.
European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology 01/1990; 25(12):1945-51. DOI:10.1016/0277-5379(89)90376-3
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT From an overview of epidemiological evidence on nutrition, diet and cancers of the breast, endometrium and ovary, the following indications can be drawn: Overweight and obesity are causally related to endometrial and post-menopausal breast cancer, and may account for as much as one third of the cases of endometrial and one tenth of breast cancer in Europe. It is not known whether obesity or overweight early in life has any role on breast cancer risk, nor whether obesity influences ovarian carcinogenesis. Overweight tends to be associated with an unfavourable prognosis for breast cancer. Despite extensive research, the available knowledge on diet and breast cancer is largely inconsistent, and the results from ecological and individual-based studies are contradictory in relation to fat, proteins, total energy, alcohol, etc. There are only scanty data on diet and endometrial or ovarian cancer, which tend to suggest role for fat (or animal fat) in the risk of these neoplasms. The evidence on diet and breast, ovarian and endometrial carcinogenesis is still too scanty or inconsistent to be of any practical preventive value. Thus, the only clear indication for prevention is that a reduction of overweight would avoid a substantial number of cases of endometrial and post-menopausal breast cancer.

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Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

animal fat
 
available knowledge
 
breast cancer
 
breast cancer risk
 
clear indication
 
endometrial
 
endometrial carcinogenesis
 
epidemiological evidence
 
extensive research
 
following indications
 
individual-based studies
 
obesity
 
obesity influences ovarian carcinogenesis
 
ovarian cancer
 
ovary
 
Overweight
 
post-menopausal breast cancer
 
practical preventive value
 
substantial number
 
unfavourable prognosis
 

C La Vecchia