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American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 161(2):153-160; doi:10.1093/aje/kwi030
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Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Plasma Carotenoids, Retinol, and Tocopherols and Risk of Breast Cancer

Rulla M. Tamimi1,2 , Susan E. Hankinson1,2, Hannia Campos3, Donna Spiegelman2,4, Shumin Zhang2,5, Graham A. Colditz1,2,6, Walter C. Willett1,2,3 and David J. Hunter1,2,3,6

1 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
2 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
3 Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
4 Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
5 Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
6 Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, Boston, MA.

The roles of carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherols in breast cancer etiology have been inconclusive. The authors prospectively assessed the relations between plasma {alpha}-carotene, ß-carotene, ß-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin, retinol, {alpha}-tocopherol, and {gamma}-tocopherol and breast cancer risk by conducting a nested case-control study using plasma collected from women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study. A total of 969 cases of breast cancer diagnosed after blood draw and prior to June 1, 1998, were individually matched to controls. The multivariate risk of breast cancer was 25–35% less for women with the highest quintile compared with that for women with the lowest quintile of {alpha}-carotene (odds ratio (OR) = 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47, 0.88; ptrend = 0.01), ß-carotene (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.53, 1.02; ptrend = 0.01), lutein/zeaxanthin (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.01; ptrend = 0.04), and total carotenoids (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.05; ptrend = 0.05). The inverse association observed with {alpha}-carotene and breast cancer was greater for invasive cancers with nodal metastasis. The authors conclude that some carotenoids are inversely associated with breast cancer. Although the association was strongest for {alpha}-carotene, the high degree of collinearity among plasma carotenoids limits our ability to conclude that this association is specific to any individual carotenoid.

breast neoplasms; carotenoids; oxidative stress; tocopherols; vitamin A

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; LRT, likelihood ratio test; OR, odds ratio.

Correspondence to Dr. Rulla M. Tamimi, Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 (e-mail: rulla.tamimi{at}channing.harvard.edu).


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