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Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

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01-08-2020 | Breast Cancer | Epidemiology

Association between selenium intake and breast cancer risk: results from the Women’s Health Initiative

Authors: Dan Guo, Michael Hendryx, Xiaoyun Liang, JoAnn E. Manson, Ka He, Mara Z. Vitolins, Yueyao Li, Juhua Luo

Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment | Issue 1/2020

Abstract

Purpose

It has been hypothesized that selenium (Se) can prevent cancer, and that Se deficiency may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. However, findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent. The objective of this study was to assess the association between Se intake and risk of breast cancer in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).

Methods

This study included 145,033 postmenopausal women 50–79 years who completed baseline questionnaires between October 1993 and December 1998, which addressed dietary and supplemental Se intake and breast cancer risk factors. The association between baseline Se intake and incident breast cancer was examined in Cox proportional hazards analysis.

Results

During a mean follow-up of 15.5 years, 9487 cases of invasive breast cancer were identified. Total Se (highest versus lowest quartile: HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.92–1.09, P_trend = 0.66), dietary Se (highest versus lowest quartile: HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.89–1.08, P_trend = 0.61), and supplemental Se (yes versus no: HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95–1.03) were not associated with breast cancer incidence.

Conclusions

This study indicates that Se intake is not associated with incident breast cancer among postmenopausal women in the United States. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings by using biomarkers such as toenail Se to reduce the potential for misclassification of Se status.

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Title: Association between selenium intake and breast cancer risk: results from the Women’s Health Initiative
Authors: Dan Guo
Michael Hendryx
Xiaoyun Liang
JoAnn E. Manson
Ka He
Mara Z. Vitolins
Yueyao Li
Juhua Luo
Publication date: 01-08-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment / Issue 1/2020
Print ISSN: 0167-6806
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7217
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05764-6

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