Nutrition Research Newsletter: Serum Antioxidants And Breast Cancer

FindArticles > Nutrition Research Newsletter > April, 1998 > Article > Print friendly

Serum Antioxidants And Breast Cancer

It has been hypothesized that antioxidant nutrients--carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and selenium--may protect against many types of cancer, including breast cancer. However, several previous cohort studies that However, several previous cohort studies that used blood levels of these nutrients as an index of exposure failed to detect statistically significant protective effects. The small sample sizes in those studies may have made detection of effects difficult. This report describes the relationships between serum antioxidant levels and breast cancer risk in a larger study population.

A total of 7224 Missouri women donated blood to a serum bank between 1977 and 1987. During up to 9.5 years of follow-up (median 2.7 years), 105 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Serum samples from these cases and two matched controls per case were analyzed for carotenoids, retinol, vitamin E, and selenium.

Serum lycopene was inversely associated with breast cancer risk. A nonsignificant gradient of decreasing risk with increasing [Beta]-cryptoxanthin was also present. Among women who donated blood at least two years before diagnosis, the data suggested an inverse association with lutein/zeaxanthin. There was no evidence for protective effects of [Alpha]-carotene, [Beta]-carotene, [Alpha]-tocopherol, retinol, or selenium.

These findings suggest that certain carotenoids--or other substances found in the foods that contain them--may protect against breast cancer.

Joanne F. Dorgan, Anne Sowelt;, Christine A. Swanson et al, Relationships of Serum Carotenoids, Retinol, [Alpha]-Tocopherol, and Selenium with Breast Cancer Risk: Resuits from a Prospective Study in Columbia, Missouri (United States), Cancer Causes and Control 9(1):89-97 (Jan 1998) [Correspondence: Dr Joanne F. Dorgan, Division of Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza North, Room 443, 6130 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892-73 74]