Nutritional factors associated with benign breast disease etiology: a case-control study

Between 1977 and 1980, 854 biopsied cases of benign breast disease (BBD) and 755 matched surgical and 723 matched neighborhood controls subjects were interviewed in Israel by using a detailed food frequency questionnaire. Cases were classified according to degree of ductal atypia (Black-Chablon grading system). Women with atypic lesions (grades greater than or equal to 3) reported a higher intake of all types of foods compared with both control series. Further analyses indicated that the increased consumption was due primarily to foods containing greater than or equal to 10% fat. Odds ratios associated with the highest fat consumption quartile were close to 3.0. There was a trend for increasing saturated fatty acid consumption with increasing ductal atypica. After adjusting for hormonal and demographic confounders, the association with fat intake was strengthened. Because atypic BBD has been reported to be a precursor of breast cancer, our findings lend support to the hypothesis that dietary fat is a risk factor for breast cancer.