AACR: Women with a Common Catalase Genotype May Further Lower Their Breast Cancer Risk by Dietary Measures By Charlene Laino In the first study to explore the relationship between catalase genotypes and breast cancer, researchers have found that women with the CC genotype are at a reduced risk, and that the risk can be further reduced by consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Jiyoung Ahn, MS, RD, Research Associate, Department of Epidemiology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, United States, and a PhD student, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States, presented the findings here on March 28th at the American Association for Cancer Research 95th Annual Meeting. "Most previous studies have not shown any strong evidence that eating fruits and vegetables lowers breast cancer risk," Ms. Ahn said. "But because oxidative stress is thought to play an important role in breast carcinogenesis, we asked 'could the patient's catalase genotype perhaps affect breast cancer risk, and could that risk by lowered by eating fruits and vegetables?' " The population-based, case-control study enrolled 1,037 women aged 20 years or older with newly diagnosed, primary in situ or invasive breast cancer and 1,086 randomly selected controls. In-home interviews were used to assess suspected breast cancer risk factors over their lifetime, and a modified Block food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary intake 12 months prior to the interview. In multivariate models that adjusted for age, body mass index, family history of breast cancer, age at first pregnancy and cigarette pack-years smoked, women with the most common catalase genotype, CC, had a 16% lower risk of developing breast cancer, compared with women with either the CT or TT genotypes. "More importantly, women with the CC genotype who consumed a diet high in fruit had a 30% lower risk, while those who ate little fruit had only a 5% reduced risk," Ms. Ahn said. Since the study showed that 64% of women carry the CC genotype, the findings have important public health implications, with "eating fruits and vegetables a good way of lowering breast cancer risk," she concluded. Ms. Ahn presented the study on behalf of co-researchers M.D. Gammon, R.M. Santella, M. M. Gaudet, J.A. Britton, S.L. Teitelbaum, A.I. Neugut, M.B. Terry, K Conway, and C. B. Ambrosone, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Columbia University, New York, New York; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York. Thanks to docguide.com for this summary, 3/04 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.