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Consumption of olive oil and risk of breast cancer in U.S. women: results from the Nurses’ Health Studies

British Journal of Cancer volume 129, pages 416–425 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

Olive oil consumption may reduce breast cancer risk, but it is unclear whether olive oil is beneficial for breast cancer prevention in populations outside of Mediterranean regions, namely in the U.S., where the average consumption of olive oil is low compared with Mediterranean populations. We examined whether olive oil intake was associated with breast cancer risk in two prospective cohorts of U.S. women.

Methods

We used multivariable-adjusted time-varying Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for breast cancer among 71,330 (Nurses’ Health Study, 1990–2016) and 93,295 women (Nurses’ Health Study II, 1991–2017) who were free of cancer at baseline. Diet was assessed by a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire every 4 years.

Results

During 3,744,068 person-years of follow-up, 9,638 women developed invasive breast cancer. The multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) for breast cancer among women who had the highest consumption of olive oil (>1/2 tablespoon/d or >7 g/d) compared with those who never or rarely consumed olive oil, was 1.01 (0.93, 1.09). Higher olive oil consumption was not associated with any subtype of breast cancer.

Conclusion

We did not observe an association between higher olive oil intake and breast cancer risk in two large prospective cohorts of U.S. women, whose average olive oil consumption was low. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and to further investigate whether different varieties of olive oil (e.g., virgin and extra virgin olive oil) may play a role in breast cancer risk.

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Fig. 1: Flowchart of study population.

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Data availability

The data described in the article, code book, and analytic code will be made available upon application and approval. Further information including the procedures to obtain and access data from the Nurses’ Health Studies is described at https://www.nurseshealthstudy.org/researchers (e-mail: nhsaccess@channing.harvard.edu).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution to this study from central cancer registries supported through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and/or the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Central registries may also be supported by state agencies, universities, and cancer centers. Participating central cancer registries include the following: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Seattle SEER Registry, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Funding

This study was supported by grants UM1 CA186107, U01 CA176726, P01 CA87969, and R01 CA50385 from the National Institutes of Health, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Susan G Komen Foundation and Ramon Areces Foundation. The funding sources did not participate in the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Andrea Romanos-Nanclares, Marta Guasch-Ferré, Wendy Y. Chen, Michelle D. Holmes, Bernard A. Rosner & A. Heather Eliassen

  2. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Marta Guasch-Ferré, Walter C. Willett, Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez & A. Heather Eliassen

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Walter C. Willett, Michelle D. Holmes & A. Heather Eliassen

  4. Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Wendy Y. Chen

  5. Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Bernard A. Rosner

  6. Biomedical Research Network Center for Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez

  7. University of Navarra, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Pamplona, Spain

    Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez

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  1. Andrea Romanos-Nanclares
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Contributions

ARN, MGF and AHE designed research. ARN, MGF, WCW, WYC, MDH, BAR, MAM and AHE conducted the research; ARN analyzed the data; ARN and AHE drafted the manuscript; All the authors made critical revisions to the manuscript for important intellectual content; ARN, MGF and AHE had full access to all the data in the study and took responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Romanos-Nanclares.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the institutional review boards of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and those of participating registries as required. Completion of the questionnaire implied informed consent.

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Romanos-Nanclares, A., Guasch-Ferré, M., Willett, W.C. et al. Consumption of olive oil and risk of breast cancer in U.S. women: results from the Nurses’ Health Studies. Br J Cancer 129, 416–425 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02306-x

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