Dietary Methyl-Group Donor Intake and Breast Cancer Risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  • Heleen Van Puyvelde
  • Nikos Papadimitriou
  • Joanna Clasen
  • David Muller
  • Carine Biessy
  • Pietro Ferrari
  • Jytte Halkjær
  • Kim Overvad
  • Renee T. Fortner
  • Verena Katzke
  • Matthias B. Schulze
  • Paolo Chiodini
  • Giovanna Masala
  • Valeria Pala
  • Carlotta Sacerdote
  • Rosario Tumino
  • Marije F. Bakker
  • Antonio Agudo
  • Eva Ardanaz
  • Maria Dolores Chirlaque Lopez
  • Maria-Jose Sanchez
  • Ulrika Ericson
  • Bjorn Gylling
  • Therese Karlsson
  • Jonas Manjer
  • Julie A. Schmidt
  • Genevieve Nicolas
  • Corinne Casagrande
  • Elisabete Weiderpass
  • Alicia K. Heath
  • Lode Godderis
  • Koen Van Herck
  • Dirk De Bacquer
  • Marc J. Gunter
  • Inge Huybrechts

(1) Background: Methyl-group donors (MGDs), including folate, choline, betaine, and methionine, may influence breast cancer (BC) risk through their role in one-carbon metabolism; (2) Methods: We studied the relationship between dietary intakes of MGDs and BC risk, adopting data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort; (3) Results: 318,686 pre- and postmenopausal women were followed between enrolment in 1992-2000 and December 2013-December 2015. Dietary MGD intakes were estimated at baseline through food-frequency questionnaires. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to quantify the association between dietary intake of MGDs, measured both as a calculated score based on their sum and individually, and BC risk. Subgroup analyses were performed by hormone receptor status, menopausal status, and level of alcohol intake. During a mean follow-up time of 14.1 years, 13,320 women with malignant BC were identified. No associations were found between dietary intakes of the MGD score or individual MGDs and BC risk. However, a potential U-shaped relationship was observed between dietary folate intake and overall BC risk, suggesting an inverse association for intakes up to 350 mu g/day compared to a reference intake of 205 mu g/day. No statistically significant differences in the associations were observed by hormone receptor status, menopausal status, or level of alcohol intake; (4) Conclusions: There was no strong evidence for an association between MGDs involved in one-carbon metabolism and BC risk. However, a potential U-shaped trend was suggested for dietary folate intake and BC risk. Further research is needed to clarify this association.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1843
JournalNutrients
Volume13
Issue number6
Number of pages15
ISSN2072-6643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Research areas

  • breast cancer, folate, choline, betaine, methionine, EPIC, ONE-CARBON METABOLISM, FOLATE INTAKE, DNA METHYLATION, B-VITAMINS, METHIONINE, DATABASE, ALCOHOL, CHOLINE, ASSOCIATION, BETAINE

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