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Dietary intake of B vitamins and methionine and breast cancer risk

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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated prospectively the relationship between dietary intakes of methionine and B vitamins associated with one-carbon metabolism and breast cancer risk, including modification by age, hormone receptor status and alcohol consumption. Interactions between different B vitamins and methionine were also examined.

Methods

During follow-up of 20,756 women from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study for an average of 16 years, we ascertained 936 incident breast cancers. Dietary intakes were estimated using a 121-item food frequency questionnaire. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals were estimated using Cox regression.

Results

We found weak evidence for an inverse association between breast cancer risk and riboflavin intake (fourth versus first quartile, HR Q4 vs. Q1 = 0.84 (0.69, 1.01); p linear trend = 0.05) and a positive association for vitamin B12 (HR Q4 vs. Q1 = 1.21 (1.00, 1.46); p linear trend = 0.06). We did not find any significant interactions between alcohol consumption and any of the B vitamins or methionine intake (all p interaction > 0.17) or between methionine or folate intake and any other B vitamins (all p interaction > 0.07). No association varied by tumor hormone receptor status (all p homogeneity > 0.14).

Conclusions

We found weak evidence of an inverse association between breast cancer risk and riboflavin intake and a positive association with vitamin B12.

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Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by the contribution of many people, including the original investigators and the diligent team who recruited the participants and who continue working on follow-up. We would also like to express our gratitude to the many thousands of Melbourne residents who continue to participate in the study. We would like to acknowledge the work of David Muller who checked all statistical analyses. Cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and The Cancer Council Victoria. This work was supported by infrastructure from the Cancer Council Victoria and Grants from the NHMRC (209057, 251533, 520316).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Cancer Council Victoria, 1 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia

    Julie K. Bassett, Laura Baglietto, Allison M. Hodge, Gianluca Severi, Dallas R. English & Graham G. Giles

  2. Centre for Molecular, Environmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia

    Laura Baglietto, Gianluca Severi, John L. Hopper, Dallas R. English & Graham G. Giles

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Graham G. Giles

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  1. Julie K. Bassett
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  2. Laura Baglietto
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  3. Allison M. Hodge
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  4. Gianluca Severi
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  6. Dallas R. English
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  7. Graham G. Giles
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Correspondence to Julie K. Bassett.

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Bassett, J.K., Baglietto, L., Hodge, A.M. et al. Dietary intake of B vitamins and methionine and breast cancer risk. Cancer Causes Control 24, 1555–1563 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0232-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0232-y

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