Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Consumption and Breast Cancer in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), of which Mexico is a large consumer, has been associated with the risk of breast cancer. We assessed the association between SSBs consumption and breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal women.

We performed a multicenter population-based case-control study in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Veracruz. We recruited 1,000 cases and 1,074 controls; all participants were pre- or postmenopausal women between 35 and 69 years of age. Diet before symptoms onset was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. We conducted a multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis stratified by menopausal status.

For premenopausal women, after adjusting for matching characteristics, total energy intake and all potential confounders, the odds of having breast cancer in women who drank one or more SSBs servings per day showed 1.78 times the odds of those who drank one or fewer SSBs servings per month [OR = 1.78; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-3.01]. For postmenopausal women, the corresponding model was not statistically significant (OR = 1.38, 95% CI, 0.84-2.25). We also observed higher consumption of SSBs among pre- than in postmenopausal women (23.3% and 17.4%, respectively among controls in the highest consumption category (≥1 per day).

Our results suggest that SSBs consumption increases the risk of developing breast cancer, particularly in premenopausal women.

Given the consumption of SSBs, of which Mexico is a large consumer, these results can support public policies to discourage the consumption of SSBs.