Dietary fiber and breast cancer

The Fiber Hypothesis which had its origins in the work of Burkitt and others in the early 1970's, focussed largely on fiber's beneficial effects on colon cancer and disorders of the gastric intestinal tract. In the 1980's it was proposed that fiber may also have beneficial effects on breast cancer and a rational for this was proposed involving modulation, by fiber, of the enterohepatic recirculation of estrogens. In the following the evidence from epidemiology, clinical interventions and animal model studies, supporting a role for fiber in breast cancer is critically reviewed. Evidence from animal model studies support the notion that supplementary fiber inhibits chemically-induced mammary tumorigenesis but do not support an estrogen-based mechanism. Some studies in human populations suggest modulation by estrogens and some do not. The aggregate data point to minor constituents present in fiber, such as isoflavones and phytate as the biologically active components of fiber which may be responsible for its anti cancer effects.