Consumption of industrial processed foods and risk of premenopausal breast cancer among Latin American women: the PRECAMA study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Isabelle Romieu, Emory University; Neha Khandpur, University of Sao Paulo; Aikaterini Katsikari, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Carine Biessy, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Gabriela Torres-Mejía, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico; Angélica Ángeles-Llerenas, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico; Isabel Alvarado-Cabrero, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social; Gloria Inés Sánchez, University of Antioquia; Maria Elena Maldonado, University of Antioquia; Carolina Porras, Agencia Costarricense de Investigaciones Biomédicas (ACIB) - Fundación INCIENSA; Ana Cecilia Rodriguez, Agencia Costarricense de Investigaciones Biomédicas (ACIB) - Fundación INCIENSA; Maria Luisa Garmendia, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile; Vèronique Chajés, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Elom K Aglago, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Peggy L Porter, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; MingGang Lin, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Mathilde His, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Marc J Gunter, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Inge Huybrechts, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO); Sabina Rinaldi, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-01-04
• Publisher: BMJ
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000335
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 9
• Grant/Funding Information: The study is funded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Ibero-American Programme for the Development of Science and Technology (CYTED), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (MINCIENCIAS, grant #111584267659).; The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. ACR was part of the Proyecto Guanacaste when this work was carried out.
• Keywords: Latin American women; nutrition assessment
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Nutrition; Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Ultra-processed food intake has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in Western populations. No data are available in the Latin American population although the consumption of ultra-processed foods is increasing rapidly in this region. We evaluated the association of ultra-processed food intake to breast cancer risk in a case–control study including 525 cases (women aged 20–45 years) and 525 matched population-based controls from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico. The degree of processing of foods was classified according to the NOVA classification. Overall, the major contributors to ultra-processed food intake were ready-to-eat/heat foods (18.2%), cakes and desserts (16.7%), carbonated and industrial fruit juice beverages (16.7%), breakfast cereals (12.9%), sausages and reconstituted meat products (12.1%), industrial bread (6.1%), dairy products and derivatives (7.6%) and package savoury snacks (6.1%). Ultra-processed food intake was positively associated with the risk of breast cancer in adjusted models (OR T3-T1=1.93; 95% CI=1.11 to 3.35). Specifically, a higher risk was observed with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer (ORT3-T1=2.44, (95% CI=1.01 to 5.90, P-trend=0.049), while no significant association was observed with oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer (ORT3-T1=1.87, 95% CI=0.43 to 8.13, P-trend=0.36). Our findings suggest that the consumption of ultra-processed foods might increase the risk of breast cancer in young women in Latin America. Further studies should confirm these findings and disentangle specific mechanisms relating ultra-processed food intake and carcinogenic processes in the breast.