Meat Consumption, Heterocyclic Amines, NAT2, and the Risk of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Meat consumption and heterocyclic amine (HCA) intake have been inconsistently associated with breast cancer risk in epidemiologic studies. Genetic variation in N-acetyltransferase2 (NAT2) has been suggested to modify the association of meat intake with breast cancer through its influence on metabolism of HCAs. We examined associations between meat intake, HCA exposure, acetylator genotype, and breast cancer risk in a case-control study of 2,686 case women and 3,508 controls. Women were asked to report their usual intake, cooking method, and preferred doneness of specific meats. We observed no association between total meat, red meat, or chicken with breast cancer risk. Women who consumed 5 or more servings of meat per week had no increased risk of breast cancer compared to women consuming fewer than 2 servings per week (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.84–1.15). No statistically significant associations with breast cancer were found for individual HCAs or for total estimated mutagenic activity of meat. Results varied modestly according to menopausal status. There were no statistically significant interactions with NAT2 genotype. Results do not support an important association of HCAs with breast cancer risk, although potential biases in case-control studies should be considered.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Drs Meir J. Stampfer, Fred Farin, Henry Anderson, Patrick L. Remington, John A. Baron, and E. Robert Greenberg; Laura Stephenson and the staff of the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System; Susan T. Gershman and the staff of the Massachusetts Tumor Registry; Marguerite Stevens and the staff of the New Hampshire Cancer Registry; and Linda Haskins, Heidi Judge, Shafika Abrahams-Gessel, along with the study interviewers and programmers in all three states for assistance with data collection. We are especially grateful to the women who participated in this study and whose generosity made this research possible. This study was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R01 CA47147, CA47305, and CA69664. L. Mignone was supported by T32 CA 09001.

Notes

^a Cases N = 2,686; controls N = 3,508. Column totals are unequal due to missing data.

^b Chi-square P value comparing distributions in cases to controls.

^a Abbreviations are as follows: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ref, reference.

^b Adjusted for age and state of residence.

^cAdjusted for age, state of residence, body mass index, education, alcohol intake, age at menarche, menopausal status (only in analysis of all women), age at first birth, family history of breast cancer, history of benign breast disease, parity, postmenopausal hormone use, multivitamin use, total fruits and vegetables intake, and smoking (smoking status and pack years).

^aAbbreviations are as follows: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; PhIP, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine; ref, reference; DiMeIQx, 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline'; MeIQx, 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline.

^bAdjusted for age and state of residence.

^cAdjusted for age, state of residence, body mass index, education, alcohol intake, age at menarche, menopausal status (only in analysis for all women), age at first birth, family history of breast cancer, history of benign breast disease, parity, postmenopausal hormone use, multivitamin use, total fruits and vegetables intake, and smoking (smoking status and pack years).

^a Abbreviations are as follows: NAT2, N-acetyltransferase2; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ref, reference; PhIP, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine.

^b Adjusted for age and state of residence

Adjusted for age, state of residence, BMI, education, alcohol intake, age at menarche, age at first birth, family history of breast cancer, history of benign breast disease (BBD), parity, multivitamin use, postmenopausal hormone use, fruit and vegetable intake, and smoking (smoking status and pack years)

High and low categories were determined by the mean of the intake.