High-sugar foods and breast cancer risk from the Health Examinees study

The association between excessive sugar intake and breast cancer risk has been considered, however, results are unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between high-sugar foods intake and breast cancer in a prospective cohort study.

This study included 92,314 women aged 40-69 years from the Health Examinees-Gem (HEXA-G) study (2004-2013). High-sugar foods were defined as sugar-rich food groups identified from the food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for breast cancer risk according to high-sugar foods consumption were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. A total of 713 breast cancer cases occurred over an average follow-up of 9.20 years.

The top three foods contributing to total sugar intake were fruits (42.89%), Korean traditional tea (5.60%), and ice cream (2.51%). Overall, consuming more than two servings of total high-sugar foods per week was associated with a 28% higher risk compared to less than once per month (HR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.02-1.61, P for trend = 0.05), with particularly significant associations observed for sugary cereals and ice cream. Notably, fruit intake, which accounted for the largest proportion of dietary sugar intake in this population, was not associated with breast cancer risk.

Higher consumption of high-sugar foods was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, whereas fruit intake was not. These findings suggest that sugar sources, rather than total sugar intake alone, may be important when considering dietary strategies for breast cancer prevention.