Associations of Major Dietary Patterns With Breast Cancer Among Iranian Women: A Hospital-Based Case-Control Study

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Several studies have investigated the relationship between breast cancer and specific foods or nutrients, rather than examining an overall dietary pattern. This study aims to investigate the association between breast cancer and the predominant dietary pattern in Ahvaz city.

This hospital-based case-control study was conducted on 106 women with breast cancer and 107 controls. Dietary intake data were collected using a 147-item food frequency questionnaire. We merged the data on the 147 foods into 20 food groups to identify major dietary patterns. Factor analysis with varimax rotation was then employed to determine the primary dietary patterns. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between dietary patterns and breast cancer, with adjustment for potential confounders.

Three dietary patterns were identified: healthy, western, and traditional. The Western dietary pattern was robustly associated with a higher risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women (OR = 4.22; 95% CI: 1.09, 16.31; p = 0.03) in the adjusted model. However, no association was found between a healthy and traditional pattern and breast cancer.

These findings suggest that the Western dietary pattern is positively associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal Iranian women.