Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Meat and egg consumption and risk of breast cancer among Chinese women

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The association between meat and egg consumption and breast cancer risk has been examined in previous studies, but the results were inconsistent. We conducted a hospital-based case–control study during June 2007 to August 2008 among Guangdong Chinese women to investigate associations between meat and egg intake and breast cancer risk.

Methods

Four hundred and thirty-eight consecutively recruited cases with primary breast cancer were frequency matched to 438 controls by age (5-year interval) and residence (rural/urban). Dietary intake was assessed by face-to-face interviews using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were obtained by using multiple unconditional logistic regression adjusted for various dietary and nondietary confounders.

Results

We observed a borderline increased association of processed meat intake with breast cancer risk (trend test p = 0.066). The multivariate-adjusted OR of breast cancer risk for the highest versus the lowest quartile was 1.44 (95% CI = 0.97–2.15). No significant association was found between total and red meat, poultry, fish, and egg intake and risk.

Conclusions

This study suggested that processed meat intake was associated with a possible increased risk of breast cancer. There was no significant association between consumption of total and red meat, poultry, fish, or egg with breast cancer risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay J, Pisani P (2005) Global cancer statistics, 2002. CA Cancer J Clin 55:74–108. doi:10.3322/canjclin.55.2.74

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Popkin BM, Du S (2003) Dynamics of the nutrition transition toward the animal foods sector in China and its implications: a worried perspective. J Nutr 133:3898S–3906S

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Iscovich JM, Iscovich RB, Howe G, Shiboski S, Kaldor JM (1989) A case–control study of diet and breast cancer in Argentina. Int J Cancer 44:770–776. doi:10.1002/ijc.2910440504

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. De Stefani E, Ronco A, Mendilaharsu M, Guidobono M, Deneo-Pellegrini H (1997) Meat intake, heterocyclic amines, and risk of breast cancer: a case–control study in Uruguay. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 6:573–581

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Dai Q, Shu XO, Jin F, Gao YT, Ruan ZX, Zheng W (2002) Consumption of animal foods, cooking methods, and risk of breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 11:801–808

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shannon J, Cook LS, Stanford JL (2003) Dietary intake and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer (United States). Cancer Causes Control 14:19–27. doi:10.1023/A:1022506507984

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Hermann S, Linseisen J, Chang-Claude J (2002) Nutrition and breast cancer risk by age 50: a population-based case–control study in Germany. Nutr Cancer 44:23–34. doi:10.1207/S15327914NC441_4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Franceschi S, Favero A, La Vecchia C et al (1995) Influence of food groups and food diversity on breast cancer risk in Italy. Int J Cancer 63:785–789. doi:10.1002/ijc.2910630606

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Sinha R (2002) An epidemiologic approach to studying heterocyclic amines. Mutat Res 506–507:197–204. doi:10.1016/S0027-5107(02)00166-5

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bingham SA, Hughes R, Cross AJ (2002) Effect of white versus red meat on endogenous N-nitrosation in the human colon and further evidence of a dose response. J Nutr 132:3522S–3525S

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Trichopoulou A, Katsouyanni K, Stuver S et al (1995) Consumption of olive oil and specific food groups in relation to breast cancer risk in Greece. J Natl Cancer Inst 87:110–116. doi:10.1093/jnci/87.2.110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Potischman N, Coates RJ, Swanson CA et al (2002) Increased risk of early-stage breast cancer related to consumption of sweet foods among women less than age 45 in the United States. Cancer Causes Control 13:937–946. doi:10.1023/A:1021919416101

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Shannon J, Ray R, Wu C et al (2005) Food and botanical groupings and risk of breast cancer: a case–control study in Shanghai, China. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 14:81–90

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Witte JS, Ursin G, Siemiatycki J, Thompson WD, Paganini-Hill A, Haile RW (1997) Diet and premenopausal bilateral breast cancer: a case–control study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 42:243–251. doi:10.1023/A:1005710211184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Gertig DM, Hankinson SE, Hough H et al (1999) N-acetyl transferase 2 genotypes, meat intake and breast cancer risk. Int J Cancer 80:13–17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(19990105)80:1<13::AID-IJC3>3.0.CO;2-W

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ambrosone CB, Freudenheim JL, Sinha R et al (1998) Breast cancer risk, meat consumption and N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) genetic polymorphisms. Int J Cancer 75:825–830. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(19980316)75:6<825::AID-IJC2>3.0.CO;2-X

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Mannisto S, Pietinen P, Virtanen M, Kataja V, Uusitupa M (1999) Diet and the risk of breast cancer in a case–control study: does the threat of disease have an influence on recall bias? J Clin Epidemiol 52:429–439. doi:10.1016/S0895-4356(99)00010-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Lee MM, Chang IY, Horng CF, Chang JS, Cheng SH, Huang A (2005) Breast cancer and dietary factors in Taiwanese women. Cancer Causes Control 16:929–937. doi:10.1007/s10552-005-4932-9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Terry PD, Rohan TE, Wolk A (2003) Intakes of fish and marine fatty acids and the risks of cancers of the breast and prostate and of other hormone-related cancers: a review of the epidemiologic evidence. Am J Clin Nutr 77:532–543

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Hirose K, Tajima K, Hamajima N et al (1995) A large-scale, hospital-based case–control study of risk factors of breast cancer according to menopausal status. Jpn J Cancer Res 86:146–154

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Ronco AL, De Ste’fani E, Fabra A (2003) White meat intake and the risk of breast cancer: a case–control study in Montevideo, Uruguay. Nutr Res 23:151–162. doi:10.1016/S0271-5317(02)00496-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Gago-Dominguez M, Yuan JM, Sun CL, Lee HP, Yu MC (2003) Opposing effects of dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids on mammary carcinogenesis: The Singapore Chinese Health Study. Br J Cancer 89:1686–1692. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6601340

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hirose K, Takezaki T, Hamajima N, Miura S, Tajima K (2003) Dietary factors protective against breast cancer in Japanese premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Int J Cancer 107:276–282. doi:10.1002/ijc.11373

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Holmes MD, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ et al (2003) Meat, fish and egg intake and risk of breast cancer. Int J Cancer 104:221–227. doi:10.1002/ijc.10910

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Engeset D, Alsaker E, Lund E et al (2006) Fish consumption and breast cancer risk. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Int J Cancer 119:175–182. doi:10.1002/ijc.21819

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Stripp C, Overvad K, Christensen J et al (2003) Fish intake is positively associated with breast cancer incidence rate. J Nutr 133:3664–3669

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Yang Y, Wang G, Pan X (2002) China food composition. Peking University Medical Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  28. Willett WC, Howe GR, Kushi LH (1997) Adjustment for total energy intake in epidemiologic studies. Am J Clin Nutr 65:1220S–1228S (discussion 9S–31S)

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hu J, La Vecchia C, DesMeules M, Negri E, Mery L (2008) Meat and fish consumption and cancer in Canada. Nutr Cancer 60:313–324. doi:10.1080/01635580701759724

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Missmer SA, Smith-Warner SA, Spiegelman D et al (2002) Meat and dairy food consumption and breast cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. Int J Epidemiol 31:78–85. doi:10.1093/ije/31.1.78

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Cho E, Chen WY, Hunter DJ et al (2006) Red meat intake and risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women. Arch Intern Med 166:2253–2259. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.20.2253

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Cho E, Spiegelman D, Hunter DJ et al (2003) Premenopausal fat intake and risk of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 95:1079–1085

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Egeberg R, Olsen A, Autrup H et al (2008) Meat consumption, N-acetyl transferase 1 and 2 polymorphism and risk of breast cancer in Danish postmenopausal women. Eur J Cancer Prev 17:39–47. doi:10.1097/CEJ.0b013e32809b4cdd

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Taylor EF, Burley VJ, Greenwood DC, Cade JE (2007) Meat consumption and risk of breast cancer in the UK women’s cohort study. Br J Cancer 96:1139–1146. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6603689

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. van der Hel OL, Peeters PH, Hein DW et al (2004) GSTM1 null genotype, red meat consumption and breast cancer risk (The Netherlands). Cancer Causes Control 15:295–303. doi:10.1023/B:CACO.0000024255.16305.f4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Voorrips LE, Brants HA, Kardinaal AF, Hiddink GJ, van den Brandt PA, Goldbohm RA (2002) Intake of conjugated linoleic acid, fat, and other fatty acids in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer: the Netherlands cohort study on diet and cancer. Am J Clin Nutr 76:873–882

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Zheng W, Gustafson DR, Sinha R et al (1998) Well-done meat intake and the risk of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 90:1724–1729. doi:10.1093/jnci/90.22.1724

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Goodman MT, Nomura AM, Wilkens LR, Hankin J (1992) The association of diet, obesity, and breast cancer in Hawaii. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1:269–275

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Gonzalez CA (2006) Nutrition and cancer: the current epidemiological evidence. Br J Nutr 96:S42–S45. doi:10.1017/BJN20061868

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Breslow NE, Day NE (1980) Statistical methods in cancer research. In: The analysis of case-control studies. IARC, Lyon, p 16

  41. Rothman KJ, Greenland S (1998) Case-control studies. In: Rothman KJ, Greenland S (eds) Modern epidemiology, 2nd edn. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, pp 93–114

    Google Scholar 

  42. D’Avanzo B, La Vecchia C, Katsouyanni K, Negri E, Trichopoulos D (1997) An assessment, and reproducibility of food frequency data provided by hospital controls. Eur J Cancer Prev 6:288–293. doi:10.1097/00008469-199706000-00005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Center of Research and Promotion of Women’s Health of the School of Public Health of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We very gratefully acknowledge the assistance of our student helpers and participation of the study subjects, without them the study would not be possible. The authors also would like to thank the following doctors for their kind permission to interview patients in their hospitals: Dr Kong-jia Luo, Hong Yang in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center; Shu-wen Wu, Rui-yu Zheng, Li-jing Hu in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. None of the authors have any conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community and Family Medicine, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4th Floor, Shatin NT, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China

    Cai-Xia Zhang & Suzanne C. Ho

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-Ming Chen

  3. Nursing Department, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Fang-Yu Lin & Shou-Zhen Cheng

  4. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Jian-Hua Fu

Authors
  1. Cai-Xia Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Suzanne C. Ho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yu-Ming Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fang-Yu Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jian-Hua Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shou-Zhen Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suzanne C. Ho.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhang, CX., Ho, S.C., Chen, YM. et al. Meat and egg consumption and risk of breast cancer among Chinese women. Cancer Causes Control 20, 1845–1853 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9377-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9377-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation