Food Production, Processing and Nutrition (Oct 2024)
Degree of food processing and breast cancer risk: a prospective study in 9 European countries
- Manon Cairat,
- Sahar Yammine,
- Thibault Fiolet,
- Agnès Fournier,
- Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault,
- Nasser Laouali,
- Francesca Romana Mancini,
- Gianluca Severi,
- Fernanda Morales Berstein,
- Fernanda Rauber,
- Renata Bertazzi Levy,
- Guri Skeie,
- Kristin Benjaminsen Borch,
- Anne Tjønneland,
- Lene Mellemkjær,
- Yan Borné,
- Ann H. Rosendahl,
- Giovanna Masala,
- Maria Teresa Giraudo,
- Maria Santucci de Magistris,
- Verena Katzke,
- Rashmita Bajracharya,
- Carmen Santiuste,
- Pilar Amiano,
- Stina Bodén,
- Carlota Castro-Espin,
- Maria-Jose Sánchez,
- Mathilde Touvier,
- Mélanie Deschasaux-Tanguy,
- Bernard Srour,
- Matthias B. Schulze,
- Marcela Guevara,
- Nathalie Kliemann,
- Jessica Blanco Lopez,
- Aline Al Nahas,
- Kiara Chang,
- Eszter P. Vamos,
- Christopher Millett,
- Elio Riboli,
- Alicia K. Heath,
- Carine Biessy,
- Vivian Viallon,
- Corinne Casagrande,
- Genevieve Nicolas,
- Marc J. Gunter,
- Inge Huybrechts
Affiliations
- Manon Cairat
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Sahar Yammine
- Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN)
- Thibault Fiolet
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Agnès Fournier
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Nasser Laouali
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Francesca Romana Mancini
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Gianluca Severi
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP
- Fernanda Morales Berstein
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol
- Fernanda Rauber
- Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo
- Renata Bertazzi Levy
- Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo
- Guri Skeie
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT – the Arctic University of Norway
- Kristin Benjaminsen Borch
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT – the Arctic University of Norway
- Anne Tjønneland
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center
- Lene Mellemkjær
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center
- Yan Borné
- Nutrition Epidemiology, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University
- Ann H. Rosendahl
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Oncology, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital
- Giovanna Masala
- Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO)
- Maria Teresa Giraudo
- Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences and Centre for Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health (C-BEPH)
- Maria Santucci de Magistris
- Dipartimento di medicina clinica e chirurgia Federico ii university
- Verena Katzke
- Department of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer research Center (DKFZ)
- Rashmita Bajracharya
- Department of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer research Center (DKFZ)
- Carmen Santiuste
- Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council, IMIB-Arrixaca
- Pilar Amiano
- Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III
- Stina Bodén
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Pediatrics, Umeå University
- Carlota Castro-Espin
- Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO)
- Maria-Jose Sánchez
- Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III
- Mathilde Touvier
- Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN)
- Mélanie Deschasaux-Tanguy
- Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN)
- Bernard Srour
- Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN)
- Matthias B. Schulze
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
- Marcela Guevara
- Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III
- Nathalie Kliemann
- Cancer Hospital and Research Centre of Santa Catarina (CEPON)
- Jessica Blanco Lopez
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Aline Al Nahas
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Kiara Chang
- Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
- Eszter P. Vamos
- Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
- Christopher Millett
- Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
- Elio Riboli
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
- Alicia K. Heath
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
- Carine Biessy
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Vivian Viallon
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Corinne Casagrande
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Genevieve Nicolas
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Marc J. Gunter
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Inge Huybrechts
- Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-024-00264-2
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 6,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 13
Abstract
Abstract Recent epidemiological studies have suggested a positive association between ultra-processed food consumption and breast cancer risk, although some studies also reported no association. Furthermore, the evidence regarding the associations between intake of food with lower degrees of processing and breast cancer risk is limited. Thus, we investigated the associations between dietary intake by degree of food processing and breast cancer risk, overall and by breast cancer subtypes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Dietary intake of EPIC participants was assessed via questionnaires at baseline. More than 11,000 food ingredients were classified into four groups of food processing levels using the NOVA classification system: unprocessed/minimally processed (NOVA 1), culinary ingredients (NOVA 2), processed (NOVA 3) and ultra-processed (NOVA 4). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer per standard deviation increase in daily consumption (grams) of foods from each NOVA group. The current analysis included 14,933 breast cancer cases, diagnosed among the 318,686 EPIC female participants, (median follow-up of 14.9 years). No associations were found between breast cancer risk and the level of dietary intake from NOVA 1 [HR per 1 SD=0.99 (95% CI 0.97 – 1.01)], NOVA 2 [HR per 1 SD =1.01 (95% CI 0.98 – 1.03)] and NOVA 4 [HR per 1 SD =1.01 (95% CI 0.99 – 1.03)] foods. However, a positive association was found between NOVA 3 and breast cancer risk [HR per 1 SD =1.05 (95% CI 1.03 – 1.07)] which became non-significant after adjustment for alcohol intake [HR per 1 SD =1.01 (95% CI 0.98 – 1.05)] or when beer and wine were excluded from this group [HR per 1 SD =0.99 (95% CI 0.97 – 1.01)]. The associations did not differ by breast cancer subtype, menopausal status or body mass index. Findings from this large-scale prospective study suggest that the positive association between processed food intake and breast cancer risk was likely driven by alcoholic beverage consumption. Graphical Abstract
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