Nutrition and survival after breast cancer diagnosis

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. New therapeuticapproaches increased the survival so the number of alive women with breastcancer history is increasing dramatically; accordingly, enhancing their quality oflife (QOL) and increasing survival years received more and more attentions.Nutrition which is a main part in cancer prevention programs attracts greatattentions in after diagnosis programs including QOL improvement andrecurrent prevention. Weigh management is the principle subject of thesenutritional interventions. Obesity in diagnosis and after diagnosis weight gaincan affect survival by decreasing sex hormone-binding globulin and elevatinginsulin-like growth factors. On the other hand, breast cancer leads to weightgain due to fatigue, reduced physical activity and increased appetite troughchemotherapy, on this basis, weight management should be considered intreatment and after treatment programs. Dietary pattern and physical activityhave been linked separately to after diagnosis survival in some but not allstudies. The relationship is stronger in postmenopausal nonsmokers. Highintake of fruit and vegetables (> 5servings/day), fiber (> 20g/day) and low intakeof fat (<30% of calories) are associated to less recurrence in most studiesparticularly in postmenopausal women. Some nutrient intakes especially folate,vitamin C and carotenoids are associated with breast cancer incidence and mayaffect the survival after diagnosis. As some antioxidant has adverse effect onchemotherapy in high doses, intake through food sources need to beencouraged. In summary, although effect of nutritional strategies on breastcancer recurrence is not clearly understood but as these interventions can surelyenhance QOL and reduce incidence of some prevalent diseases like stroke andheart diseases, Nutritional education should be one of the main parts of afterdiagnosis health promotion programs in breast cancer patients.

کلیدواژه ها:

breast cancer ، nutrition ، survival