A systematic review published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health showed that healthy eating may reduce all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality.
The systematic review included searching databases for studies that examined the associations between diet quality and breast cancer recurrence and mortality.
After meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 11 studies were identified. Dietary intake was assessed before (n = 3) or after (n = 10) breast cancer diagnosis using the food frequency questionnaire or 24-h recall methods. Diet quality was assessed using seven dietary indices/scores measuring the compliance to a priori defined healthy dietary recommendations.
Pre-diagnosis diet quality was not associated with any outcomes. However, post-diagnosis diet quality showed better outcome, and significantly reduced all-cause mortality by 21% and marginally reduced breast cancer-specific mortality by 15%.
Within the analysis, it was also found that adhering to the Diet Approaches to Stop Hypertension and Chinese Food Pagoda guidelines could reduce breast cancer-specific mortality. This kind of approach could be highly beneficial for older people, physically fit individuals, and women with estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-negative, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive tumors.
More research is required to understand diet quality effects on mortality; however, it is encouraged to adapt healthy dietary recommendations to improve overall health among breast cancer survivors.
Source: Lee E, Kady V, Han E, Montan K, Normuminova M, Rovito MJ. Healthy Eating and Mortality among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(13):7579. Published 2022 Jun 21.
Source Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35805233/