Association of Empirically Derived Food-based Inflammatory Potential of the Diet and Breast Cancer: A Hospital Based Case-control Study

Background: Diet may be a modifiable factor in the prevention of breast cancer (BC) by modulating inflammation. We used a food-based empirical dietary inflammatory index (FDII) to evaluate the association between FDII and odds of breast cancer in Iranian women. Methods: : The present case-control study carried out on 150 age-matched women with newly diagnosed breast cancer and controls. Data for dietary intake and anthropometric measures were collected. FDII score was developed according to participants dietary intakes of 21 pre-defined food groups. Multivariate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to investigate the association of empirically derived food-based inflammatory potential of the diet and breast cancer. Results: : Our finding indicated that participants in the top tertile of FDII score had a higher odds of breast cancer (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.14 - 2.53, P=0.01) compared with those in the first tertile. . After controlling confounders, multivariate logistic regressions showed in those at the third tertile of FDII chance of breast cancer was 1.7 times higher than those in the first terile (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.12- 2.58, P=0.01). Conclusions: : The results of our study suggested that more pro-inflammatory diets (higher FDII scores) are associated with increased breast cancer risk. These findings suggest that developing an effective dietary modification based on FDII may reduce risk of breast cancer.