Recently there has been some news in the media indicating that toxins contained in fatty fish such as farmed fish may increase the risk of breast cancer. Now there is a reassuring study that suggests otherwise.
A large and extensive new study from Europe suggests that eating fish has no relationship with breast cancer. The study showed eating fish neither increases nor reduces the risk of breast cancer.
The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) performed this study, which involved data from 310,671 female participants. The study participants included women from ten European countries and the study lasted for a period of 6-12 years. Study participants were aged between 25 and 70 years. The participants completed a dietary questionnaire between 1992-98 and were followed up for incidence of breast cancer for a median of 6.4 yr
The researchers noted that among the study group 4,776 women developed invasive breast cancer during the study period. Further analysis of the data showed that women who ate fish had no increased or reduced risk of developing breast cancer.
The researchers argue that although the period of follow-up is relatively short, the results provide no evidence for an association between fish intake and breast cancer risk. The study was recently published in the International Journal of Cancer. |
