Pre- and post-diagnostic intake of whole grain and dairy products and breast cancer prognosis: the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Purpose: Fiber rich foods and dairy products have been suggested to be associated with breast cancer prognosis, though existing research is limited and either report on pre- or post-diagnostic dietary intake in relation to breast cancer prognosis. We investigated the associations between intake of whole grain (WG) and dairy products assessed both pre- and post-diagnostically in relation to breast cancer prognosis.

Methods: A total of 1965 women from the Diet, Cancer and Health cohort who were diagnosed with breast cancer between baseline (1993-1997) and December 2013 were included and followed for a median of 7 years after diagnosis. During follow-up, 309 women experienced breast cancer recurrence and 460 women died, of whom 301 died from breast cancer. Dietary assessment by food frequency questionnaires was obtained up to three times, pre- and post-diagnostic, over a period of 18 years. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios.

Results: No associations were observed between pre- or post-diagnostic intake of total WG or total dairy products and breast cancer prognosis. A high pre-diagnostic intake of oatmeal/muesli was associated with lower all-cause mortality (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.99), whereas high post-diagnostic intake of rye bread was associated with higher breast cancer-specific mortality (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02-1.63). A generally high intake of cheese was associated with a higher recurrence rate.

Conclusion: Pre-diagnostic intake of oatmeal/muesli was associated with lower all-cause mortality, and post-diagnostic intake of rye bread was associated with higher breast cancer specific mortality.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBreast Cancer Research and Treatment
Volume179
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)743-753
Number of pages11
ISSN0167-6806
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Science - Epidemiology, Whole grains, Dairy products, Cohort study, Breast cancer prognosis

ID: 231303626