Dietary Patterns and Risk of Breast Cancer in Women in Guilan Province, Iran

Introduction & Aim: Several studies have pointed to roles of dietary and food groups in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, but information on dietary patterns among women with breast cancer and their healthy counterparts in Iran is limited. Therefore the present investigation was conducted in Guilan province in 2014-2015. Methods: In a case-control study, 450 women with breast cancer and one of their relatives (third-rank) were investigated. At first the phone numbers of patients in Razi Hospital in radiotherapy and chemotherapy and oncology centers of Guilan were taken. Data were collected through telephone interviews by the researcher. The questionnaire had two parts comprising demographic clinical and food frequency data including a list of 40 food items. To analyze the variables, Chi-square test and univariate logistic regressionmodels were used. Results: In each group, 225 subjects were investigated. The majority of samples in both groups of experiment and control were consumed than two glasses of milk and dairy products per day. Regarding consumption of meat and its products, 56% of the cancer group had more than three servings per day while 26.7% of the control group had less than 2 servings per day. The majority of subjects had less than six servings of cereal per day. Some 54. 7 % of the cancer and 62.2 % of the control group consumed less than two servings of fruit per day. Consumption of vegetables in experimental and control groups were 52.9% and 76.9% respectively, more than five servings per day. There was a meaningful difference between two groups regarding the consumption of milk and dairy items (OR=0.6,95%CI= 0.4-0.9), meat and its products (OR=0.49,95%CI=0.3-0.7), bread and cereals (OR=0.4,95%CI=0.2-0.8), vegetables (OR=0.5,95%CI= 0.3- 0.9). (P-value<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study emphasize the importance of informing women, particularly those athigher risk of breast cancer, in relation to dietary factors.