Folate intake and the risk of breast cancer: an up-to-date meta-analysis of prospective studies

A partir d'une revue systématique de la littérature (23 études, 1 171 048 participantes, 41 516 cas), cette méta-analyse évalue l'association entre une consommation de folates et le risque de cancer du sein, en fonction du statut des récepteurs des œstrogènes et des récepteurs de la progestérone

Résumé en anglais

Epidemiological studies focusing on the association between folate and breast cancer risk reported inconsistent findings. We conducted a systematic search of the literature using PubMed and EMBASE databases. A total of 23 prospective studies involving 41,516 cases and 1,171,048 individuals were included for meta-analysis. Folate intake may decrease the risk of oestrogen receptor (ER) negative (−) and ER-/progesterone receptor (PR)- breast cancer, with pooled risk ratios (RRs) of 0.88 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78–1.00] and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.68–0.97), respectively. An increment of folate intake of 100 μg per day was associated with a deceased risk of ER- (RR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.88–0.99) and ER-/PR- (RR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85–0.97) breast cancer. Moreover, high folate intake may have preventive effects against breast cancer in premenopausal women (RR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.88–1.00) and individuals with moderate or high levels of alcohol consumption (RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.72–0.94).