| Abstract: | Previous data on animals and humans suggest that vitamin E may be a protective factor against cancer. A low dietary vitamin E intake has been suggested to increase the risk of breast cancer. We examined the dietary intake and the concentration of vitamin E in breast adipose tissue of women in Kuopio, Finland, diagnosed between 1990 and 1992 with benign breast disease (n=34) and with breast cancer (n=32). In postmenopausal women, lower dietary intake (P=0.006) and a smaller concentration of vitamin E in breast adipose tissue (P=0.024) were observed in breast cancer patients than in subjects with benign breast disease. Partial correlation showed that the vitamin E concentration in the breast adipose tissue correlated positively with the dietary intake of vitamin E (r=0.25, P=0.023), indicating that the vitamin E concentration in breast adipose tissue reflects the dietary intake of vitamin E.Drs Zhu and Uusitupa are with the Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, Finland, Dr Parviainen is with the Laboratory of Helsinki University, Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Drs Männistö and Pietinen are with the Department of Nutrition, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland Dr Eskelinen is with the Department of Surgery, and Dr Syrjänen is with the Department of Pathology, University of Kuopio. Address correspondence to Professor Uusitupa, Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland. This study was supported by research grants from the Finnish Cancer Society, and by EVO funding for the Breast Cancer Project of Kuopio Cancer Research Center from the Kuopio University Hospital, Finland. |
