Starch Intake Linked to Breast Cancer Recurrence

PHILADELPHIAWomen who increase their intake of starch may have a greater risk for breast cancer recurrence, according to new research presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Researchers conducted a subset analysis of 2,651 women who participated in the Womens Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial, a plant-based intervention trial that enrolled about 3,088 survivors of breast cancer. WHEL researchers studied breast cancer recurrence and followed the participants for an average of seven years.

The subset analysis involved an examination of how changes in carbohydrate intake influenced breast cancer recurrence. The WHEL dietary trial, even though it focused on fruits and vegetables, fiber and fat, didnt really have a specific carbohydrate goal.

The researchers obtained carbohydrate intake information from multiple 24-hour dietary recalls at baseline and at one year. In an annual phone interview, participants reported everything they had eaten during the last 24 hours. At baseline, carbohydrate intake was 233 grams per day. Results showed women whose cancer recurred had a mean increase in carbohydrate intake of 2.3 grams per day during the first year, while women whose cancer did not recur reported a mean decrease of 2.7 grams per day during the first year.

Changes in starch intake accounted for 48% of the change in carbohydrate intake. Mean change in starch intake during the first year was -4.1 grams per day among women whose cancer recurred vs. -8.7 grams per day among women whose cancer did not recur. When change in starch intake during one year was grouped into quartiles of change, the rate of an additional breast cancer event was 9.7% among women who decreased their starch intake the most during one year, compared with an event rate of 14.2% among women who increased their starch intake the most during one year.

The change in starch intake was independent of dietary changes that happened in the intervention arm," the researchers noted. It is independent of more global changes in diet quality."