Effect of mistimed eating patterns on breast and prostate cancer risk (MCC‐Spain Study)

Abstract

Modern life involves mistimed sleeping and eating patterns that in experimental studies are associated with adverse health effects. We assessed whether timing of meals is associated with breast and prostate cancer risk taking into account lifestyle and chronotype, a characteristic correlating with preference for morning or evening activity. We conducted a population‐based case‐control study in Spain, 2008–2013. In this analysis we included 621 cases of prostate and 1,205 of breast cancer and 872 male and 1,321 female population controls who had never worked night shift. Subjects were interviewed on timing of meals, sleep and chronotype and completed a Food Frequency Questionaire. Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research recommendations for cancer prevention was examined. Compared with subjects sleeping immediately after supper, those sleeping two or more hours after supper had a 20% reduction in cancer risk for breast and prostate cancer combined (adjusted Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.80, 95%CI 0.67–0.96) and in each cancer individually (prostate cancer OR = 0.74, 0.55–0.99; breast cancer OR = 0.84, 0.67–1.06). A similar protection was observed in subjects having supper before 9 pm compared with supper after 10 pm. The effect of longer supper‐sleep interval was more pronounced among subjects adhering to cancer prevention recommendations (OR both cancers= 0.65, 0.44–0.97) and in morning types (OR both cancers = 0.66, 0.49–0.90). Adherence to diurnal eating patterns and specifically a long interval between last meal and sleep are associated with a lower cancer risk, stressing the importance of evaluating timing in studies on diet and cancer.

Outdoor light at night and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH‐AARP diet and health study

“…Melatonin can also inhibit tumor cell proliferation and invasion, suppress DNA damage, and modulate immune function, all of which may protect against the development of breast cancer 5,6 . In addition, LAN may also disrupt sleep and allow for night‐time snacking, which may contribute to breast cancer risk through other pathways such as obesity, metabolic dysfunction and chronic inflammation 7‐9 …”

Night‐time eating and body weight status among US adults, 2007–2016

“…The present study only assessed night‐time eating in relation to weight‐rated anthropometric measures including BMI, WC, obesity and abdominal obesity. Previous studies examined night‐time eating in relation to cancer , weight loss and systemic inflammation biomarker C‐reactive protein . Other important biomarkers such as fasting glucose, haemoglobin A1C, low‐ and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were not examined as a result of the scope of the study.…”

Definición de cáncer

“…También se han cuestionado las limitadas políticas de detección oportuna de la enfermedad y el casi nulo interés de la investigación y las políticas para prevenirla. En relación con este último aspecto, se ha llamado la atención acerca del insuficiente reconocimiento de la alimentación y nutrición, la gestión emocional, la actividad física, el control del estrés, el fortalecimiento del sistema inmunitario, entre otros factores (Béliveau & Gingras 2008;Kogevinas et ál. 2018;Mukherjee 2011;Servan-Schreiber 2009).…”