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Topical Area: Nutritional Epidemiology

Nutritional Epidemiology (II) (Poster Session)

(P29-036-23) The Association Between Dietary Carotenoid Intake and The Risk of Breast Cancer Incidence: A Case-Control Study of Korean Women

Monday, July 24, 2023
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board 161

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SP

    Sin-Hye Park, PhD (she/her/hers)

    Research Professor
    Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Korean Institute of Nutrition, Hallym University; Department of Cancer Artificial Intelligence Digital Healthcare, National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy
    Chuncheon, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea

    • Co-Author(s)

  • JL

    Jeonghee Lee

    National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy

  • YS

    Young Eun Sim, Doctoral Candidate

    Hallym University
    Chuncheon, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea

  • YK

    Young-Hee Kang, Ph.D

    Hallym University
    chuncheon, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea

  • JK

    Jeongseon Kim

    National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy

Disclosure(s):
Sin-Hye Park, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, however, it is unclear whether specific dietary components within vegetables and fruits affect BC risks due to inconsistent results among different ethnicities. This study aimed to investigate the association between dietary carotenoids, in particular carotenoid food items, and the risk of BC incidence among Korean women.

Methods: We recruited 395 controls and 395 BC patients from the National Cancer Center Hospital in Korea. All participants were interviewed with sociodemographic questions and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). To analyze the association between dietary carotenoid intake and BC risk, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by using a logistic regression model.

Results: BC patients consumed less α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, and lycopene than controls. There was a positive association between the intake of carotenoid subclasses and BC risks; in particular, postmenopausal women who consumed higher levels of total carotenoids, β-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin had lower BC risks. Furthermore, we investigated which food items were major contributing sources for the intake of carotenoid subclasses. Overall, the high intake of pickled vegetables and sweet fruits exacerbated BC risks, whereas the intake of green leafy vegetables including radish leaves, kale, bracken, and eggs prevented the risk of BC incidence. Unfortunately, there were no foods that significantly influenced BC risks that contained α-carotene and lycopene.

Conclusions: We recommend that Korean postmenopausal women who are vulnerable to BC have a low intake of pickled vegetables and sweet fruits, and a high intake of green leafy vegetables.

Funding Sources: This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (2021R1I1A1A01048330 and 2021R1A6A1A03044501) and a grant from the National Cancer Center of Korea (NCC-2310380).