SEATTLE—Women are in a never ending fight on the battlefield of health, striving for victory over hot flashes and PMS, to greater wars like breast cancer. As research moves forward and consumers take a proactive approach to their health, natural alternatives to treatments such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and natural preventive methods to lowering cancer risk are become more of the rule instead of the exception. As a result of two case-control studies, researchers discovered several supplements taken for menopausal symptom maintenance— black cohosh, dong quai, soy and St. John's wort—many reduce the risk of breast cancer. To investigate this association, researchers conducted a study on the potential link between long-term supplement use and breast cancer risk (Canc Epidemiol Biomark Prevent. July 19, 2010).
A total of 35,016 postmenopausal women—members of the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) Cohort—ages 50 to 76 years, completed a 24-page baseline questionnaire in 2000 to 2002. Participants were queried on their current versus past usage, frequency (days/week) and number of years of specialty supplement use. A total of 880 incident invasive breast cancers from 2000 to 2007 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry.
A reduced risk of breast cancer was associated with current use of fish oil, while an average use of 10-years also suggested a reduced risk. However, these results were true for ductal, no lobular cancers. The remaining specialty supplements were not associated with breast cancer risk: Specifically, use of supplements sometimes taken for menopausal symptoms were not associated with risk. Researchers concluded fish oil may be inversely associated with breast cancer risk.