Background: Wrong dietary practices and excessive body mass may not only influence the risk of primary breast cancer but also the risk of its recurrence.
Objective: Evaluation of dietary practices and identification of nutritional factors which may influence the risk of tumor recurrence in women with prior breast cancer.
Materials and methods: The case-control study involved 108 women aged 50 years and older with history of breast cancer who were divided into two categories: women after completed cancer treatment with no recurrence for minimum 5 years (group I, n=82) and women with diagnosed breast cancer recurrence (group II, n=26). A control group (n=74) constituted of subjects with no breast cancer diagnosis. In every subject anthropometric measurements were taken and dietary practices were evaluated by means of an original questionnaire.
Results: Average BMI and hip circumference values were higher in the group II than in the group I. In both study groups the percentage of high WHR values was significantly higher than in the control group. Women with history of cancer consumed significantly fewer vegetable and fruit and more refined cereals, dairy products, meat and cold cuts than women in the control group. Group I responders more often declared implementation and maintenance of changes in their diet after diagnosis of cancer than women from group II. Subjects with cancer history consumed more alcohol and more often used supplements than females in the control group.
Conclusion: Avoiding overweight and obesity along with following the principles of a healthy diet seems to reduce the risk of both breast cancer incidence and its recurrence.
Keywords: breast cancer; nutrition; nutritional status.