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Meat, eggs, dairy products, and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort^1,2,3

¹ From the Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy (VP, VK, SS, SG, and CA); the Etiological and Preventive Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan Italy (FB); the Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Copenhagen, Denmark (A Tjønneland and AO); the Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark (MUJ and KO); the Department of Cardiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark (KO); INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale) and Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France (FC-C, M-CB-R, and IR); the Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany (JL and SRo); the Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Germany (HBB-d-M and AS); the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece (A Trichopoulou, VB, and AN); the University of Torino, Torino, Italy (PV); the Cancer Registry Azienda Ospedaliera "Civile M.P. Arezzo," Ragusa, Italy (RT); the Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale Università Federico II, Napoli, Italy (SP); the Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit ISPO, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, Florence, Italy (GM); the Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway (DE, GS, and EL); the Public Health Institute of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Spain (EA); the Epidemiology Department, Murcia Health Council, Murcia, Spain and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Spain (CN); the Andalusian School of Public Health of Granada, Spain and CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Spain (M-JS); the Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, San Sebastian, Spain and CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Spain (PA); the Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer. Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain (CAGS); the Public Health and Participation Directorate, Health and Health Care Services Council, Asturias, Spain (LR); Lund University, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Sweden (EW); the Department of Surgery, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden (JM); the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden (PL and GH); The Julius Center, University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands (PHMP and CHvG); the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands (HB and FJBvD); the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (TJK and ES); the Centre for Nutrition and Cancer (SB) and Clinical Gerontology (K-TK), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (PF, GB, and SRi); and the Division of Epidemiology, Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine (TN, DSM, and ER) and Environmental Epidemiology (PV), Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.

² Supported by the European Commission: Public Health and Consumer Protection Directorate 1993–2004; Research Directorate-General 2005; Deutsche Krebshilfe; German Cancer Research Center; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Danish Cancer Society; Health Research Fund of the Spanish Ministry of Health (CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública and RETIC-RD06/0020); Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III; Spanish Regional Governments of Andalusia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia, and Navarra; the Catalan Institute of Oncology; Cancer Research United Kingdom; Medical Research Council, United Kingdom; the Stroke Association, United Kingdom; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, United Kingdom; Food Standards Agency, United Kingdom; the Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom; Greek Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity and Hellenic Health Foundation; Italian Association for Research on Cancer; Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports; National Cancer Registry and the Regional Cancer Registries Amsterdam, East and Maastricht of the Netherlands; World Cancer Research Fund; Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Scientific Council; Regional Government of Skåne, Sweden; the Norwegian Research Council; and the University of Tromsø.

³ Address correspondence to V Krogh, Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS, Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via Venezian, 1, 20133 Milan, Italy. E-mail: vittorio.krogh{at}istitutotumori.mi.it.

Background: A Western diet is associated with breast cancer risk.

Objective: We investigated the relation of meat, egg, and dairy product consumption with breast cancer risk by using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Design: Between 1992 and 2003, information on diet was collected from 319,826 women. Disease hazard ratios were estimated with multivariate Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: Breast cancer cases (n = 7119) were observed during 8.8 y (median) of follow-up. No consistent association was found between breast cancer risk and the consumption of any of the food groups under study, when analyzed by both categorical and continuous exposure variable models. High processed meat consumption was associated with a modest increase in breast cancer risk in the categorical model (hazard ratio: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.20; highest compared with lowest quintile: P for trend = 0.07). Subgroup analyses suggested an association with butter consumption, limited to premenopausal women (hazard ratio: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.53; highest compared with lowest quintile: P for trend = 0.21). Between-country heterogeneity was found for red meat (Q statistic = 18.03; P = 0.05) and was significantly explained (P = 0.023) by the proportion of meat cooked at high temperature.

Conclusions: We have not consistently identified intakes of meat, eggs, or dairy products as risk factors for breast cancer. Future studies should investigate the possible role of high-temperature cooking in the relation of red meat intake with breast cancer risk.

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