Carotenoids, vitamin A, and estrogen receptor status in breast cancer

Abstract

Among patients with breast cancer, tumors that contain estrogen receptors (ER) are associated with improved survival and better response to hormone therapy than those not expressing these receptors. The purpose of these case comparison studies was to examine the relationship between carotenoids, vitamin A, and the tumor ER status in women at diagnosis of primary breast cancer. The focus of the first study was the relationship between dietary intake and ER status, and the focus of the second study was the relationship between ER status and the plasma carotenoid, retinol, and tocopherol concentrations. We evaluated tumor ER status and self-reported dietary intake in 142 women and plasma concentrations of carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherols in 149 women, at diagnosis of breast cancer, before any medical or surgical treatment. In the first study the overall odds of ER-positive status were increased in relation to number of mammograms in the past five years, number of breast-fed babies, dietary carotenoid intake, and more frequent intake of yellow and green vegetables. Overall odds of ER-positive status were decreased in relation to years of oral contraceptive use and preformed vitamin A intake. In the second study older women, women with higher plasma lutein concentration, and women not using beta-carotene supplements were more likely to be ER positive, when data were adjusted for body mass index and factors that may influence breast cancer risk or hormonal status. Significant independent relationships between plasma retinol or tocopherol concentrations and ER status were not observed. The strong and independent relationships between carotenoid intake, plasma lutein concentration, and ER status may relate to observations linking a carotenoid-rich diet with improved prognosis after diagnosis of breast cancer.

Intake of fruits, and vegetables in relation to breast cancer risk by hormone receptor status

“…However, the magnitude of the inverse association with fruit intake was stronger in our study than in prospective studies [4], which may be due to recall bias in case-control studies. Our results for fruit intake were stronger for ER+ than ER-tumors and are consistent with the other published case-control studies [9][10][11]. The largest prospective study to date, in contrast, found that vegetable intake was inversely associated with ER-breast tumors [13].…”

“…However, results for fruit and vegetable intake have been inconsistent. The three casecontrol studies [9][10][11] have all found the inverse association between fruit and vegetable intake to be stronger for ER+ than ER-breast tumors. The two prospective studies that have evaluated this question [12,13] have provided contradictory results.…”

Dietary Mushroom Intake and the Risk of Breast Cancer Based on Hormone Receptor Status

“…However, several studies have produced inconsistent results with regard to the intake of fruit, vegetable, and micronutrients based on ER status (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). In a cohort study of postmenopausal women, dietary intake of selected antioxidants was inversely associated with breast cancer characterized by both ER and PR, but not with those jointly defined by ER and PR status (21).…”

Plant Sterols as Anticancer Nutrients: Evidence for Their Role in Breast Cancer

“…A number of studies have shown that dietary components can influence ER status [69,70,71,72]. The ER-α is necessary for the proliferative effects of estradiol in breast cancer cells and is overexpressed in the transformed state [73,74,75,76].…”