Bread, cereals and soy increase the risk of ovarian cancer

This study was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2011 Feb;20(2):308-17

Study title and authors:
Dietary phytoestrogens and the risk of ovarian cancer in the women's lifestyle and health cohort study.

Hedelin M, Löf M, Andersson TM, Adlercreutz H, Weiderpass E.
Department of Genetic Research, Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21098648

This study investigated the relationship between diet and ovarian cancer. The study included 47,140 women who were followed for 16 years.

The study found:
(a) Women who consumed the most whole-grain bread had a 48% increased risk of ovarian cancer compared to the women who consumed the least whole-grain bread.
(b) Women who consumed the most isoflavones (soy products) had a 15% increased risk of ovarian cancer compared to the women who consumed the least isoflavones.
(c) Women who consumed the most cereal fibre had a 19% increased risk of ovarian cancer compared to the women who consumed the least cereal fibre.
(d) Women who had ovarian cancer consumed 8% less meat than women without ovarian cancer.

The data from the study shows that the risk of ovarian cancer increases with higher consumption of bread, cereals and soy.

Pancreatic cancer risk is decreased on a diet high in red meat and saturated fat

This study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1998 Nov 18;90(22):1710-9

Study title and authors:

Dietary and nutritional factors and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study based on direct interviews.

Silverman DT, Swanson CA, Gridley G, Wacholder S, Greenberg RS, Brown LM, Hayes RB, Swanson GM, Schoenberg JB, Pottern LM, Schwartz AG, Fraumeni JF Jr, Hoover RN.

Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. silvermd@EPNDCE.NCI.NIH.GOV

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9827525

This study investigated the relationship between diet and pancreatic cancer in 436 patients and 2003 general-population control subjects aged 30-79 years.

The study found:

• Those who had the lowest consumption of bread, grains and cereals had an 8% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of bread, grains and cereals.
• Those who had the lowest consumption of carbohydrates had a 36% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of carbohydrates.
• Those who ate the most fat had a 34% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least fat.
• Those who ate the most saturated fat had a 28% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least saturated fat.
• Those who ate the most red meat had an 18% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least red meat.

This study shows that diets high in saturated fat and red meat offer protection from pancreatic cancer.