Dietary Vitamin A and Breast Cancer Risk in Black Women: The African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Studies in women of European descent showed an inverse association of dietary vitamin A (retinol and carotenoids) intake with breast cancer risks, mainly in premenopausal women. OBJECTIVES: We examined whether higher compared with lower levels of dietary vitamin A are associated with reduced breast cancer risks among Black women by estrogen receptor (ER) and menopausal statuses. METHODS: In this pooled analysis, data were from 3564 breast cancer cases and 11,843 controls (mean ages = 56.4 and 56.3 years, respectively) in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) Consortium. Dietary intake was assessed by FFQs. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for study-specific quintiles of total vitamin A equivalents and individual carotenoids, and a pooled OR was estimated by a random-effect model. RESULTS: We observed an inverse association of total vitamin A equivalents with ER-positive breast cancer (quintiles 5 compared with 1: pooled OR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.67-1.00; P-trend = 0.045). The association was seen among premenopausal women (pooled OR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.43-0.83; P-trend = 0.004), but not among postmenopausal women (pooled OR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.77-1.28; P-trend = 0.78). Additionally, there were inverse associations of dietary ß-carotene (quintiles 5 compared with 1: pooled OR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.51-0.95; P-trend = 0.08) and lutein (pooled OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.45-0.87; P-trend = 0.020) with ER-positive breast cancer among premenopausal women. There was no evidence for an association of total vitamin A equivalents or individual carotenoids with ER-negative breast cancer, regardless of menopausal status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings on dietary vitamin A and breast cancer risks in Black women are consistent with observations in women of European descent and advance the literature showing an inverse association for ER-positive disease.

The HealthStreet Cancer Survivor Cohort: a Community Registry for Cancer Research.

PURPOSE: This report describes a cancer survivor cohort from a community engagement program and compares characteristics and willingness to participate in health research between the cancer survivors and non-cancer community members. METHODS: Among 11,857 members enrolled in HealthStreet at the University of Florida (10/2011-03/2020), 991 cancer survivors were identified and 1:1 matched to control members without cancer on sex, age, and zip code. Demographics, body weight, height, social determinants of health, history of cancer, and willingness to participate in research were recorded by Community Health Workers as a part of the baseline Health Needs Assessment. RESULTS: Among the cancer survivors, 71.6% were female and 19.2% lived in rural areas with a mean age of 56.7 years in females and 60.8 years in males. At baseline, 44.7% received a cancer diagnosis within 5 years, while 15.8%, more than 20 years. Cancer survivors (vs. matched non-cancer controls) were less likely to be Black (31.1% vs. 63.6%) but more likely to be divorced, separated, or widowed (49.5% vs. 41.2%), be normal/underweight (34.0% vs. 25.6%) and have health insurance (80.0% vs. 68.6%; all p < 0.05). Cancer survivors versus matched controls reported higher rates of ever being in a health research study (32.4% vs. 24.9%) and interest in participating in studies ranging from minimal risk to greater-than-minimal risk. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer survivors from this community engagement program agnostic to cancer types and treatment are diverse in geography, race, and social determinants of health and can be a valuable resource for observational, interventional, and biospecimen research in cancer survivorship.