The effect of dietary exposures on recurrence and mortality in early stagebreast cancer

We studied the effect of diet and body weight on recurrence and death in 47 2 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 1982-1984. From Cos pro portional hazards regression models we found that the strongest effects wer e observed in premenopausal women. For example, after accounting for diseas e stage and age, reported baseline consumption (times/day) of butter, marga rine, and lard (risk ratio (RR) = 1.67; 95% confidence interval(CI) = 1.17- 2,39) and beer (drinks/day) (RR = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.15-2.17) increased the r isk of recurrence. There also appeared to be an increased risk associated w ith consumption of red meat, liver, and bacon. corresponding to about a dou bling of risk for each time per day that foods in this category were consum ed (RR = 1.931 95 % (CI = 0.89-4.15). Relative body weight increased risk a t the rate of 9% (RR = 1.09; 95 % CI = 1.02-1.17) for each kg/m(2) equivale nt to about 5.8 pounds for a woman 5'4" tall). For death, the results were similar, but relative weight was more strongly associated, increasing risk by 12% per kg/m(2) (RR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.03-1.22).