A pre-disease anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory diet may contribute to a better prognosis in breast cancer survivors

A study led by researchers from the Nutrition and Cancer Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the Biomedical Research Institute of Bellvitge (IDIBELL), published in the scientific journal 'British Journal of Cancer', has examined the relationship between dietary patterns prior to breast cancer diagnosis and patient survival. The study was carried out on the basis of a European cohort that includes 13,270 women with breast cancer from 9 different countries and who have been followed for an average of nine years after their diagnosis.

Based on the information on diet collected in the EPIC study, from the English 'European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition', three dietary patterns have been calculated that are related to key biological mechanisms in breast cancer: the levels of 'estrogens, insulin resistance, and chronic low-grade inflammation. Subsequently, the relationship between each of these dietary patterns and breast cancer survival has been analysed.

The relationship between diet patterns and survival in breast cancer

The diet pattern associated with a lower risk of diabetes, also called the “anti-diabetic diet”, is defined as being rich in fiber, coffee, nuts, healthy fats, whole fruit, with a low glycemic index, low consumption of trans fats , sugary drinks, juices and red and processed meat. The observed results indicate that those women who followed a more anti-diabetic diet, before being diagnosed with breast cancer, had a 22% higher survival rate than women who followed more pro-diabetic diets. On the other hand, women who followed more pro-inflammatory diets before diagnosis (rich in meat, sugary products and fats), had a 6% lower survival compared to women who followed more anti-inflammatory diets. In the other hand,

According to the researcher of the Nutrition and Cancer Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology-IDIBELL and first author of the study, Carlota Castro-Espin, " this study, and the data that can be extracted from it, provide evidence in relation to the fact that adherence to an anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory diet could improve the prognosis of women who have suffered from breast cancer. Therefore, this can help to define specific dietary recommendations for these patients, which, at the moment, do not exist" and adds "however, additional studies are needed that examine other dietary patterns and especially studies that evaluate programs of "nutritional intervention in breast cancer survivors in order to be able to establish these recommendations" .