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. 2010 Apr;120(3):693-702.
doi: 10.1007/s10549-009-0487-x. Epub 2009 Aug 4.

Urinary polyphenols and breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study

Jianfeng Luo  1 , Yu-Tang Gao, Wong-Ho Chow, Xiao-Ou Shu, Honglan Li, Gong Yang, Qiuyin Cai, Nathaniel Rothman, Hui Cai, Martha J Shrubsole, Adrian A Franke, Wei Zheng, Qi Dai
Affiliations

Urinary polyphenols and breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study

Jianfeng Luo et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Apr.

Erratum in

  • Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Apr;120(3):703

Abstract

Polyphenols, the most abundant dietary antioxidants, also possess many other anticarcinogenic activities. Urinary metabolites of polyphenols could complement dietary assessment of the bioavailability of these nutrients. We conducted a study of 353 incident breast cancer cases and 701 individually matched controls nested within the Shanghai Women's Health Study cohort of women aged 40-70 years at baseline. Liquid chromatography photo-diode array electrospray mass spectrometry was used to measure tea polyphenols (epicatechin, epigallocatechin, and their metabolites) and flavonols (e.g., quercetin and kaempferol). Multivariate conditional logistic regression analyses were used to assess associations between breast cancer risk and urinary excretion rates of polyphenols. Urinary excretion of tea polyphenols increased with increasing tea leaves consumed among controls, but not among breast cancer cases. Compared with cases, controls had higher levels of urinary total polyphenols and tea polyphenols, particularly epicatechin. In contrast, we did not find any dose-response relationship between urinary polyphenols and breast cancer risk. Urinary excretion of epicatechin was inversely associated with breast cancer risk [odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.59 (0.39-0.88) for the intermediate tertile]. In spline regression, we found an overall dose-response relationship between epicatechin level and risk of breast cancer, although it was not apparent in low and middle urinary excretion range. In conclusion, high epicatechin may be related to a reduced risk of breast cancer. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Association between baseline levels of urinary excretion rates epicatechin (ng/mg creatinine, log transformed by 10) and risk of breast cancer
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Association between baseline levels of urinary excretion rates of epigallocatechin (ng/mg creatinine, log transformed by 10) and risk of breast cancer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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