Dietary carbohydrate quality index and incidence of obesity-related cancers in the "Seguimiento Universidad De Navarra" (SUN) prospective cohort.

PURPOSE: The quality, rather than the quantity, of carbohydrate intake may play a major role in the etiology of obesity-related cancers (ORCs). We assessed the association between a previously defined carbohydrate quality index (CQI) and the risk of developing ORCs in the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) cohort. METHODS: A total of 18,446 Spanish university graduates [mean age 38 years (SD 12 years), 61% women, mean BMI 23.5 kg/m2 (SD 3.5 kg/m2)], with no personal history of cancer, were followed-up. Baseline CQI was assessed summing quintiles of four previously defined criteria: high dietary fiber intake, low glycemic index (GI), high whole-grain: total-grain carbohydrates ratio and high solid carbohydrates: total carbohydrates ratio. Participants were classified into tertiles of their total CQI. Incident ORCs were confirmed by an oncologist using medical records and by querying the National Death Index blindly to dietary exposures. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 13.7 years, 269 incident cases of ORC were confirmed. A higher CQI was inversely associated with ORC incidence [multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for the upper (T3) versus the lowest tertile (T1) of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.47-0.96), p for trend = 0.047]. Particularly, higher dietary fiber intake was inversely associated with ORC, HRT3 vs. T1=0.57 (95% CI 0.37-0.88 p for trend = 0.013). CONCLUSION: In this prospective Mediterranean cohort, an inverse association between a better global quality of carbohydrate intake and the risk of ORCs was found. Strategies for cancer prevention should promote a higher quality of carbohydrate intake.

Leisure-time physical activity, sedentary behavior, and risk of breast cancer: Results from the SUN ('Seguimiento Universidad De Navarra') project.

Evidence is still limited on the influence of sedentary lifestyles on breast cancer (BC) risk. Also, prospective information on the combined effects of both sedentariness and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is scarce. We aimed to assess the association of higher sedentary behavior and LTPA (separately and in combination) with the risk of BC in a middle-aged cohort of university graduates. The SUN Project is a follow-up study initiated in 1999 with recruitment permanently open. Baseline assessments included a validated questionnaire on LTPA and sedentary habits. Subsequently, participants completed biennial follow-up questionnaires. Multivariable adjusted Cox models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) for incident BC according to LTPA, TV-watching, the joint classification of both, and a combined 8-item multidimensional active lifestyle score. We included 10,812 women, with 11.8 years of median follow-up of. Among 115,802 women-years of follow-up, we confirmed 101 incident cases of BC. Women in the highest category of LTPA (>16.5 MET-h/week) showed a significantly lower risk of BC (HR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.34-0.90) compared to women in the lowest category (≤6 MET/h-week). Women watching >2 h/d of TV sh owed a higher risk (HR = 1.67; 95% CI:1.03-2.72) than those who watched TV <1 h/d. Women in the highest category (6-8 points) of the multidimensional combined 8-item score showed a lower BC risk (HR = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.15-0.79) than those in the lowest category (<2 points) group. There was no significant supra-multiplicative interaction between TV-watching and LTPA. Both low LTPA and TV-watching >2 h/d may substantially increase BC risk, independently of each other.

Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with lower incidence of premenopausal breast cancer in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project.

OBJECTIVE: Due to the growing interest in the role of dietary patterns (DPs) on chronic diseases, we assessed the association between a posteriori identified DPs in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project - a prospective cohort study in a Mediterranean country - and breast cancer (BC) risk. DESIGN: DPs were ascertained through a principal component analysis based on 31 predefined food groups. BC cases were initially identified through self-report or, if deceased, from death certificates or by notification by the next kin. Women reporting BC were asked to provide a copy of their medical report and diagnoses for confirmation purposes. We fitted Cox regression models to assess the association between adherence to the identified DPs and BC risk. SETTING: Spanish university graduates. PARTICIPANTS: We included 10 713 young and middle-aged - mainly premenopausal - women. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 10·3 years, we identified 100 confirmed and 168 probable incident BC cases. We described two major DPs: 'Western dietary pattern' (WDP) and 'Mediterranean dietary pattern' (MDP). A higher adherence to a WDP was associated with an increased risk of overall BC (multivariable-adjusted HR for confirmed BC Q4 v. Q1 1·70; 95 % CI 0·93, 3·12; P for trend = 0·045). Contrarily, adherence to a MDP was inversely associated with premenopausal BC (multivariable-adjusted HR Q4 v. Q1 0·33; 95 % CI 0·12, 0·91). No significant associations were observed for postmenopausal BC. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas a higher adherence to the WDP may increase the risk of BC, a higher adherence to the MDP may decrease the risk of premenopausal BC.

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and incidence of breast cancer: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer (BC) incidence is increasing worldwide. Higher insulin resistance may potentially lead to an increased risk of BC. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are an acknowledged dietary factor that increases insulin resistance. However, the association between SSB and BC has not been widely explored. We evaluated the association between baseline consumption of SSB and the incidence of BC among relatively young women in a cohort of Spanish university graduates. METHODS: We evaluated 10,713 middle-aged, Spanish female university graduates (median age 33) from the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort, initially free of BC. SSB consumption was collected at baseline using a validated 136-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Incidence of BC was confirmed by a trained oncologist using medical records. We fitted Cox regression models to assess the relationship between baseline categories of SSB consumption and the incidence of BC during follow-up. We stratified the analyses by menopausal status. RESULTS: During 106,189 person-years follow-up, 100 incident cases of BC were confirmed. Among postmenopausal women, regular consumption of SSB was associated with a significantly higher incidence of BC (HR 2.12; 95% CI 1.02, 4.41) in the fully adjusted model, compared to women who never or seldom consumed SSB. No association was found among premenopausal women (HR 1.16; 95% CI 0.66, 2.07). CONCLUSIONS: Even though the number of cases was small, in this Mediterranean cohort, we observed a direct association between SSB consumption and BC risk among postmenopausal women. Nonetheless further larger longitudinal studies are needed to support this association.

Dietary inflammatory index and incidence of breast cancer in the SUN project.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, and diet is suspected to play a role in its development. Dietary factors may mediate this process through modulation of inflammation, though findings from previous studies have not been consistent. We aimed to longitudinally assess the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®), a frequently used method to assess the inflammatory potential of the diet, and incident BC. METHODS: We included 10,713 middle-aged, Spanish female university graduates from the SUN cohort. DII® scores were derived from a validated 136-item food-frequency questionnaire, and it was based on scientific evidence on the relationship between diet and inflammatory biomarkers. Diagnosis of BC was reported by the participant or, if deceased, by the next of kin or identified from death certificates. Self-reports of BC were confirmed by revision of medical reports by an experienced oncologist. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between quartiles of DII® and incident BC. RESULTS: After 10.3 years of median follow-up, we identified 100 confirmed and 168 probable incident BC cases. The multivariable-adjusted HR for participants in the 4th quartile to the 1st quartile was 1.44 (95% CI 0.76-2.72; p-trend: 0.339) when confirmed cases were analyzed, and 1.20 (95% CI 0.72-1.99; p-trend: 0.757) for the probable cases. We neither observed statistically significant differences in regard to menopausal status. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent increase in risk between DII® scores and BC in our cohort was not statistically significant, which could be partly explained by the small number of observed cases.