Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

I keep seeing everywhere it seems that breast cancer survivors are advised to limit their fat intake to 30 grams per day to prevent recurrence. Can you really reduce your risk of mets and local recurrence with diet?
I heard about a study that was done a while ago that showed a benefit for women who cut their fat intake from 50 grams to 30 grams and reduced their risk of recurrence. Was this study since reversed?
I was advised to eat a basic healthy diet and to just not get fat and was told that there are no diets proven to prevent breast cancer. Is there a benefit to eating low fat? I am normal weight.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

This is the study most of the articles you're reading is based on:

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/98/24/1767

The researcher, herself, wasn't sure if it was the low-fat diet or the weight loss. She also suggested the possibility that low-fat decreases insulin which leads to lower recurrence.

http://preventcancer.aicr.org/site/N...rl=0&abbr=pub_

In other words, they got a result that correlates low-fat with a lower recurrence rate, but they don't know whether the link is causal. Here's a link to the long-term follow-up:

http://www.onclive.com/conference-co...n-Intervention

It seems to indicate weight loss, not low-fat, as the key.

If I ate that little fat, I'd be very ill, so it's not even an option for me. I'm betting that sugar is the culprit, so I keep my carbs a little lower and my fat and protein a little higher.

Here's a 2014 article that postulates low-carb as a recurrence prevention method:

http://www.cancercenter.com/discussi...er-recurrence/

This is the study to which it refers:

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content...65.EPI-13-1218

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Does my diet now after all the treatment I went through have an affect on my risk of recurrence or is it out of my hands?

How do you know if your breast tumor is positive or negative for the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptor?

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Also if memory serves me correct, the low fat regime works best for triple negative bc.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Indeed, Becky, you are correct. (But that could still be the weight loss, not the low-fat aspect.)

Bottom line seems to me to be that a fresh food diet (avoid processed food) that ignores the government's push for more carbs (60%, really?!) and has a wide variety of nutrients is probably the best option until we get a definitive study. Add some exercise. Don't go overboard with any of it.

One of the suggestions I've heard is intermittent fasting. Here's a link to the Genesis 2-Day Diet materials I collected in my Dropbox back when I was researching diet:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/entsqdfk2...bRNsNN3Fa?dl=0

This is the study the Genesis Diet is based on:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action...07114513000792

The study PDF is also in the Dropbox folder I linked to.

This is the Genesis page at University Hospital at South Manchester:

http://www.uhsm.nhs.uk/research/Pages/Genesis.aspx

At the bottom of the page, you'll find additional links.

The answer to your first question, Spitfire, is "there's no way to know." The answer to your second question is "lab tests."

Here's a study (includes list of what they measured):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19116382

I'm in the Metformin study. Given the amount of money invested in the study (to fund 300+ study sites), I can only assume IGF1 is prevalent.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25763165

Electron Physician. 2014 Jul 1;6(3):894-905. doi: 10.14661/2014.894-905.
Lifestyle changes for prevention of breast cancer.
Hashemi SH1, Karimi S2, Mahboobi H3.
Author information
Abstract
Breast cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer among women. Lifestyle changes are shown to be important in the prevention of breast cancer. Diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, and vitamin and mineral use are key factors influencing the risk of breast cancer among women. Because these factors are related to each other, it is difficult to assess their individual roles in breast cancer. Some of these factors are alterable, meaning that women can decrease their risk for breast cancer by changing their behavior. Breast cancer is associated with a high rate of mortality and morbidity among women. Therefore, it is logical to try to find ways to decrease the risk of developing breast cancer. Lifestyle changes seem to be an easy, effective, and economical way to help prevention breast cancer. In women with a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis who are under radiotherapy treatment after undergoing a mastectomy, lifestyle changes are still very important. Some factors, such as smoking cessation and prevention of weight gain, may improve the long-term survival chances of these patients. Therefore, ways to increase women's knowledge about the role of lifestyle changes in the prevention of breast cancer and in the survival of patients with diagnosed breast cancer should be considered and studied.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Great find, Jackie. Here's a direct link to the PDF of the full paper. Lots of information (with a big helping of uncertainty):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...df/894-905.pdf

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Thanks, everyone!

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

I am asking about recurrence only.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

But don't you think the same principles apply to recurrence as to prevention of a first cancer? The conclusion of the paper Jackie posted says the following:

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

There are dozens of things that influence health and disease. There's no "magic bullet" that helps everyone prevent cancer or prevent recurrence. However, as this thread shows, there are many studies that show a link between certain lifestyle factors and cancer occurrence or recurrence. Causation can't be proven or disproven, but there are associations.

I remember from reading Anticancer; A New Way of Life that one study showed that walking a half hour a day appears to be as protective against recurrence of HER-2+ breast cancer as Herceptin is.

Diet and lifestyle modifications certainly "couldn't hurt," and they affect many more things than simply cancer recurrence. Regular exercise helps people handle stress, and it lifts mood and can help people sleep better. Eating a mostly plant-based diet and loading up on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help ward off diabetes, high blood pressure, and excessive body fat.

I'm with Rhonda on limiting dietary fat. I think it's very hard to do, and tends to result in eating insufficient protein and too much carbohydrate. Another thing about a flat rule (30 gms per day) is it doesn't take into account your overall calorie needs, which depend on body size and amount of physical activity.

Those of us who did all those things and got cancer anyway can take comfort in the fact that, even so, we are stronger, more vigorous, and less cranky than we might be if we hadn't done all we could to take care of ourselves. Besides, cancer isn't the only threat to health: heart disease, diabetes, and infectious diseases threaten us too.

If I were considering lifestyle changes after a cancer diagnosis, I think the first thing I'd do is start taking a 30 minute walk every day.

Best wishes,
Amy

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

I know what you are telling me, but I am not talking about general health.



Recurrence - To happen or occur again or repeatedly
Prevention - The act or practice of stopping something bad from happening


There is a huge difference between recurrence and prevention. It changes my whole mindset. For example, surgery reduces your risk of recurrence, chemo reduces your risk of recurrence, and radiation reduces your risk of recurrence. My doctors told me there was nothing I could do outside of surgery, chemo, and radiation. If my cancer comes back, it comes back, but don’t worry because they have chemo for me.



Because I have been diagnosed with breast cancer, it is a real threat. I am asking about targeting the actual breast cancer that I have been diagnosed with. So only surgery, chemo and radiation do that and nothing else matters?


As far as the IGF-1 receptor, I have never heard my onco or nurse talk about it. Of all the lab tests that have been done on me, how do I know if they did this test? What do I look for? Is it too late to get my tumor tested? Was your (Rhondalea) tumor IGF-1 positive or negative? I have never seen anyone mention that their tumor was IGF-1 positive or negative.



Remember, I am hormone negative.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

The answer to the questions of preventing breast cancer in the first place and preventing a recurrence of breast cancer is the same: "No one knows for sure, but these are the things research says might help."

Consider, for example, that some high-risk women are given tamoxifen to prevent a first occurrence of breast cancer. I have no idea and I don't think the researchers have any idea how to predict who will benefit--clearly, a woman who is destined to develop hormone negative cancer will not (or maybe she will)--but there are studies to demonstrate it does have a beneficial effect for some women.

Two birds with one stone--tamoxifen prevents first occurrence and it protects against recurrence. In some of us.

Becky mentioned above that the low-fat diet seemed to work best in triple negative women. Again, some of us. (And I still think it's all about the weight loss, but I've been wrong before.)

Believe me, if any of us knew what would work for all of us, she'd be right here posting about it. Well, actually, she'd probably be making headlines as the person who found the cure. But about all anyone can tell you is what she did as an individual that seems to have held the cancer at bay. AndiBB comes to mind--you can search for her list of supplements and information about her diet. There are other women here who have also beaten back metastatic cancer to remain NED (without further treatment), so they're probably closest to knowing what might work. The only problem, IMO, is that individual genetics will play a large enough part that emulating what someone else has done may not work for you.

For the metformin study, I was not tested for IGF-1, although additional blood samples were sent to the main study site, and I have no idea what the researchers tested for. The individual site researchers only test insulin and glucose (along with typical labs), so they don't know either. But we're all given either metformin or the placebo, and when they sort it out at the end, more information may be available. I just don't believe that they would have embarked on such a study if IFG-1 weren't a factor in the majority of breast cancers. (And not just breast cancers--metformin studies have been done with other cancers and the results have been good. I just haven't read those studies, so I don't know the specifics related to IGF-1.)

No one knows the answer, Spitfire. We just do the best we can and hope that it's enough.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Hi All,
I am new to this site but really appreciate all of the great information that everyone contributes!
I had this conversation with my oncologist just a few weeks ago. He smiled when I asked him what I could do to be on the "good" side of the statistics that I am reading about regarding recurrence. His answer was,,"Eat healthy!" He said that all of the low-fat, low-carb diets that are making the rounds are not ready for prime time....healthy foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, low sugar, and watching those carbs and of course, exercising to the best of our abilities, is the best approach. His take on things is that our diet affects our immune system, which affects our ability to fight off cancer recurrence. He also mentioned trying to keep stress at a minimum, which is really hard for folks who work in many occupations or have stress from a variety of sources, because stress contributes to inflammation, which research is looking at as a contributor to cancers.
It makes sense to me. I have been trying to eat at least 3 servings of fruit, and 5 servings of veggies each day. I do occasionally have a treat and exercise at least 5 days a week.
However, I m not beating myself up if I miss a day of exercise or have a cupcake at my grandchild's birthday party:)
Best regards, Sandy

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Hey, Yardlady!

Welcome to the club no one wants to join. I'm glad you're here, though of course I'm not glad about the reason.

It looks like you've got a good, balanced approach.

As far as I can tell, the one thing the diets of all the healthiest people in the world have in common is they involve of lot of fruits and vegetables. They also tend to use a lot of herbs and spices. The takeaway, for me, is variety, flavor, and natural sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.

This has the advantage of being delicious as well.

I have recently started eating some veggies raw that I never liked cooked (beets come to mind--shred them into a slaw). I have also discovered roasting, which reduces bitterness and brings out sweetness in things like Brussels sprouts and eggplant. I don't always get the requisite number of "good" foods but, like you, I don't beat myself up when I fall short. I do find that, for me, it's easier to meet diet goals if I think in terms of what I CAN have and not about what I "shouldn't" eat. So I can absolutely have a cupcake if I want. But the more I fill up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein, the less I crave sugar.

Re: Does 30 grams of fat per day reduce recurrence rates?
 

Hi Mtngrl,

Wish you lived next door as I am sure we could trade many recipes and ideas. I grew up in the South (fried chicken, gravy on mashed potatoes, etc.) and have had to learn a whole new approach to cooking and choices!
Yes, those spices and roasting vegetables has really become a staple in our house. My husband has high blood pressure. We are working together to eat and exercise ourselves to better health and just feeling better. It is amazing how much better I feel now than I did five years ago, before I was even diagnosed.
Best wishes, Sandy