Dietary fat and the risk of breast cancer

Age-adjusted dietary fat intake of 133 incident Dutch breast cancer cases was significantly (p less than 0.01) higher than in 289 apparently healthy controls (mean and standard deviation: 102 +/- 36 g and 92 +/- 30 g, respectively). The age-adjusted relative odds of breast cancer showed a positive trend (p less than 0.05) with increasing fat intake. The multivariate adjusted relative odds was 3.5 (95% Cl = 1.6-7.6) for subjects in the highest quintile of fat intake (above 113 g) compared to those in the lowest quintile (below 65 g); this corresponds to a 30% increased risk per 10% of energy derived from fat. The association could not be attributed to energy intake, nor to the degree of saturation of the fat nor to any specific dietary source of fat.