Women who have breast cancer that's not estrogen dependent have a greater chance of survival if they are on a low-fat diet, according to a new study.
The study looked at 2,430 women, between the ages of 48 and 79, who had early stage breast cancer. Of the women in the study, 1,600 had the estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) form of breast cancer while the remaining 800 had either ER-negative or ER-negative and progesterone-negative (PR-negative) forms of the disease, reported Viral Global News.
Half of the women studied were assigned to a low-fat diet with a nutrition councilor. The other half were not guided with how to eat.
Overall there was not a significant difference between the prognosis of the disease in the two groups at the end of the study.
The most significant discovery appeared when the researchers looked at specific forms of breast cancer.
Those who benefited most from the healthier, low-fat diet were most likely to be diagnosed with ER-negative or ER-negative and PR-negative breast cancer, reported Viral Global News.
The death rate for ER-negative women with low-fat diets was 36 percent lower than women who followed normal diets.
Those with ER-negative and PR-negative breast cancer group were even more likely to be healthier on the diet, as they demonstrated a 56 percent lower death with the low-fat diet, Viral Global News reported.
Oncologist Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, of the L.A. Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbour-UCLA Medical Center, speculated that the health increase when on the low-fat diet could be attributed to a reduction in tissue inflammation because inflammation is known to aid and abet the proliferation and spread of cancer, reported Viral Global News. When these inflammatory pathways are impeded they could potentially limit the progression of cancer.
The findings were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 12.
