Association between dietary intake of flavonoid and risk of cancer recurrence among patients with breast cancer

Abstract

Intake of flavonoids is associated with the incidence of breast cancer, but the association between intake of flavonoids and cancer recurrence is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that intake of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods is negatively associated with cancer recurrence. Among the 572 women who underwent breast cancer surgery, 66 patients had a cancer recurrence. Dietary data were collected using a structured 24-h dietary recall, and intake of flavonoids was calculated based on the Korea Rural Development Administration flavonoid database. Intake of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods was not significantly associated with cancer recurrence and disease-free survival in all patients. Among overweight and obese patients, disease-free survival was associated with intake of flavonoids (p= 0.004) and flavonoid-rich foods (p= 0.003). Intake of flavonoids (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.249, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09–0.64) and flavonoid-rich foods (HR= 0.244, 95% CI: 0.09–0.66) was negatively associated with cancer recurrence after adjusting for confounding factors in overweight and obese patients. Consumption of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods was lower in overweight and obese patients with cancer recurrence than those without recurrence and in normal-weight patients. This study suggests that intake of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods could have beneficial effects on cancer recurrence in overweight and obese breast cancer survivors.