Macronutrient Composition Influence on Breast Cancer Risk in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Women: The 4-Corners Breast Cancer Study

Abstract

The association of dietary macronutrient composition with risk of breast cancer is not well understood. We investigated the macronutrient composition of diet in the 4-Corners Breast Cancer Study. Logistic regression models were used for case-control comparisons adjusted for age, center, education, smoking, total activity, calories, dietary fiber, dietary calcium, height, parity, recent hormone exposure, reference year body mass index (BMI), and the interaction of BMI and recent hormone exposure. Breast cancer risk declined with increasing dietary fat and increased with carbohydrates similarly across ethnicity and menopausal status. Associations of carbohydrate (direct) and fat (inverse), particularly saturated and monounsaturated fat, with breast cancer were present among normal and overweight postmenopausal women and absent among obese postmenopausal women. No substantive differences were noted in the association of macronutrients with risk of breast cancer between non-Hispanic white and Hispanic women. Associations of the macronutrients carbohydrate and fat with breast cancer risk were attenuated among postmenopausal obese women.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was funded by grants CA 078682, CA 078762, CA078552, and CA078802 from the National Cancer Institute. This research was also supported by the Utah Cancer Registry, which is funded by Contract #N01-PC-67000 from the National Cancer Institute, with additional support from the State of Utah Department of Health. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the National Cancer Institute. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Sandra Edwards, Karen Curtin, Roger Edwards, Leslie Palmer, Joan Benson, Darcy Lauti, Betsy Risendal, Tara Patton, and Kelly May to this study.