Western diet linked to breast cancer in Asian women

Postmenopausal women are the latest group of Asians shown to be at higher risk of cancer due to shifting eating and lifestyle habits, according to a new study.

According to an examinationof women involved in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, overweight postmenopausal women who eat a"meat-sweet" or Western diet stand a greater chance of developing breast cancer than those who eat a vegetable-soy diet.

It is the first time researchers have made a link between a Western diet and breast cancer in Asian women.

"Our study suggests the possibility that the 'meat-sweet' pattern increased breast cancer risk by increasing obesity," said Marilyn Tseng, an associate member in the population science division at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

The "meat-sweet" diet includes a smorgasbord of pork, poultry, organ meats, beef, lamb and saltwater fish, as well as candy, dessert, bread and milk. Vegetable soy diets traditionally found in Asia are composed of different vegetables, soy-based products and freshwater fish.

The study found thatthose who consumeda predominantly meat-sweet diet could be at more than double the risk of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. The results showed no overall association of breast cancer risk with the vegetable-soy diet.

"Low consumption of a Western dietary pattern plus successful weight control may protect against breast cancer in a traditionally low-risk Asian population that is poised to more broadly adopt foods characteristic of Western societies," Tseng said.

Lung, stomach and liver cancers are on the rise in Asia, where populations have typically evaded the high cancer rates that plague much of the West. Breast and colon cancers are also increasingly common. The total number of new cancer cases in the region is expected to grow from 4.5 million in 2002 to 7.1 million in 2020.

Researcherspartly attributethis to a change in diet and lifestyle patterns. As many Asians move from the countryside to the city, they have adopted diets high in meat and fried foods in lieu of vegetables and grains more readily available in rural areas.