Association between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies

Long Shu; Xiaoyan Zhang; Qin Zhu; Xiaoling Lv; Caijuan Si

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1250361

Association between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies

Front Nutr. 2023 Sep 4:10:1250361. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1250361. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Long Shu¹, Xiaoyan Zhang¹, Qin Zhu^{1

2}, Xiaoling Lv^{3

4}, Caijuan Si¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Digestion, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
³ Department of Geriatrics, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Geriatrics, Geriatrics Institute of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Some epidemiological studies have examined the association between consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) and the risk of breast cancer. However, the results were inconsistent. Therefore, we carried out a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis to examine whether an association exists between high consumption of UPF and breast cancer risk.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, EBSCO and CNKI databases were systematically searched from inception to May 2023. The summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) associated with UPF consumption and breast cancer were calculated using a random-effects model (DerSimonian-Laird method). Heterogeneity between included studies was examined using the Cochran's Q test and I-square (I²) statistics. Publication bias was studied by visual inspection of funnel plot asymmetry and Begg's and Egger's tests.

Results: Overall, six articles involving 462,292 participants, were eligible to be included in this study. Compared to the lowest consumption, highest consumption of UPF was related to a higher risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.10; 95%CI: 1.00-1.22, p = 0.056). Besides, the linear dose-response analysis showed that each 10% increment in UPF consumption was related to a 5% higher risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.05; 95%CI: 1.00-1.10, p = 0.048). Subgroup analyses suggested that UPF consumption was positively associated with breast cancer risk in case-control studies (RR = 1.13; 95%CI: 1.01-1.26, p = 0.028). Additionally, there was also a significant positive association between UPF consumption and breast cancer risk in the subgroup with sample size<5,000(RR = 1.17; 95%CI: 1.02-1.35, p = 0.028).

Conclusion: Our results indicate that higher consumption of UPF is slightly related to a higher risk of breast cancer. Further studies in particular of large prospective cohort studies are warranted to confirm these results.

Keywords: breast cancer; meta-analysis; nova; systematic review; ultra-processed food.

Publication types

Systematic Review