for what it's worth--higher intake of fruits/vegetables and breast cancer recurrence

[Lani]

ABSTRACT: Fruits, vegetables, and micronutrient intake in relation to breast cancer survival [Breast Cancer Research and Treatment]
Objective: To determine whether fruit, vegetable, and micronutrient intake 1 year prior to breast cancer diagnosis is associated with a reduction in the subsequent risk of all-cause or breast cancer-specific mortality.

Methods: Follow-up data from 1,235 invasive breast cancer cases age 25-98 years from the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project were analyzed. At the 1996-1997 case-control interview, respondents completed a food frequency questionnaire, which assessed dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, and vitamin supplement use in the previous 12 months. All-cause mortality (n=186 deaths) and breast cancer-specific mortality status (n=125 deaths, 67.2%) were determined through December 31, 2002.

Results: Hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality were insignificantly reduced for intake of any fruits, fruit juices, and vegetables (HR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.42-1.09) and leafy vegetables (HR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.41-1.24) among post-menopausal women only. Both of these associations were more pronounced among those with ER+PR+ tumors (HR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.27-1.10, and HR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.33-1.31, respectively). Similar associations were observed for breast cancer-specific mortality.

Conclusions: In a cohort of women diagnosed with breast cancer, higher intake of fruits, vegetables, and micronutrients was associated with a non-significant survival advantage in post-menopausal women only.
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Obviously this is not the best designed study and the number of patients was relatively small (1237) and results do not seem to be divided by breast cancer type (with respect to her2)...