Fibres, whole-grain foods and breast and other cancers

The possible relationship between fibre intake and breast cancer risk has been considered in several studies, but the issue is still unsettled. Epidemiological data are compatible with moderate protection from fibre-rich foods against the risk of breast cancer, but also with an absence of association. The apparently inconsistent results may be due to chance or bias, to different approaches to data analysis and interpretation, but may also reflect heterogeneity in the dietary sources of fibres (cereals or vegetables and fruit) in various populations, and different correlates of fibre intake.