A flavonoid and lignan-rich diet may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women by about 35 per cent, suggests a new study.

The research, led by Brian Fink from the University of North Carolina, focused on the dietary intakes of flavonoids, lignans and isoflavones by 1,434 women with breast cancer and 1,440 health controls in Long Island, New York, and supports previous findings from Greece and Italy.

While significant risk reductions were observed for high intakes of flavonols, flavones, flavan-3-ols and lignans amongst postmenopausal women, no beneficial affect was observed for isoflavones, nor for any of the nutrients amongst pre-menopausal women.

Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Fink and his colleagues report that the effects of flavones and flavonols were most significant among the postmenopausal women with oestrogen-receptor (ER) positive and progesterone-receptor (PR) positive tumours.

“The ER-positive, PR-positive tumour receptor type in the most common type diagnosed among breast cancer patients in the United States,” wrote Fink. “Thus, if replicated in other studies, our findings may be of public health significance.”

Posted: 03|14|07 at 8:06 am. Filed under: News.