Among women, breast cancer is a major health problem. In fact, it was once the leading cause of female cancer mortality. There are many possible etiologies for breast cancer. One of the these is nutrition. The nutritional aspects of breast cancer affect not only its development, but also its outcome.
In 1989, breast cancer accounted for 28% of all new cancer cases in women, and 18% of all deaths due to cancer. Moreover, disease's incidence varies according to both age and nationality. Although it is uncommon in young women, the annual incidence rises rapidly from age 30 to about age 45 years. The highest rates of breast cancer generally occur among white women with high standards of living. This has led certain scientists to postulate that such cultural factors as nutrition may influence the disease's development. Evidence for this includes the fact that, among populations subjected to periods of dietary restriction during World War II, there were a significant breast cancer declines (Carbone et al., 1993, p. 819).
The etiology of breast cancer remains a mystery. Innumerable factors have been associated with its development. Some of these include the following: (1) genetics; (2) cigarettes; (3) psychosocial factors; (4) early menarche; (5) late menopause; (6) late first childbirth; (7) hormones; and, finally, (8) diet. Of these, diet has a major etiological influence. For example, the most effective prevention method currently available involves dietary fat reduction. Various reasons for this include, for one, increased breast cancer risk has been associated with obesity. Secondly, even among nonobese people, biological risk may be increased by certain specific constituents of dietary fat. For example, experimental tumor systems have shown that linoleic fatty acid has tumor-promoting effects (Mansfield, 1993, p. 219). One nutritional component that may have a protective effect occurs in fish. Experimenta...