Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 08 Dec 2011 - 19:00 PST
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Breast cancer survivors whose starch intake is above average have a greater risk of cancer recurrence compared to other breast cancer survivors, researchers from the University of California, San Diego explained at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec. 6-10, 2011. The researchers added that it is in particular starch that raises the risk, and not just overall carbohydrates.
Jennifer A. Emond, M.S., a public health doctoral student, said:
"The results show that it's not just overall carbohydrates, but particularly starch. Women who increased their starch intake over one year were at a much likelier risk for recurring."
The team carried out an analysis on 2,651 females who had taken part in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial. This study was a plant-based intervention trial involving a total of 3,088 breast cancer survivors - the analysis was on a subset of women. The scientists had set out to determine whether carbohydrate consumption impacted on breast cancer recurrence, and followed up the women for seven years (average).
Edmond said:
"The WHEL dietary trial, even though it focused on fruits and vegetables, fiber and fat, didn't really have a specific carbohydrate goal."
The team gathered data on carbohydrate intake from several 24-hour dietary recalls at the start of the study and at one year. They telephoned the participants once a year, and gathered information on what they had eaten during the previous 24 hours.
Average carbohydrate intake at baseline was 233 grams per day.
They found that carbohydrate intake during the first year: was 2.3 grams per day higher among the women whose breast cancer had recurredwas 2.7 grams per day lower among the women whose breast cancer had not recurredStarches accounted for 48% of the carbohydrate intake change, Edmond noted.
Average starch intake during the first year was: -4.1 grams per day among participants with recurring cancer -8.7 grams per day among participants without recurring cancerThe link between higher starch intake in one year and breast cancer recurrence was especially noticeable among women in the highest quartile.
Edomnd said:
"(the change in starch intake was) independent of dietary changes that happened in the intervention arm. It is independent of more global changes in diet quality."
The greater risk was only noticed among patients with lower-grade tumors, the researchers added. They concluded that more studies should be carried out on starch intake for women with breast cancer in order to better know what dietary advice to give them.
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
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8 Dec. 2011.
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