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  • Original Article
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Epidemiology

Vitamin C intake from diary recordings and risk of breast cancer in the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 561–568 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Vitamin C intake has been inversely associated with breast cancer risk in case–control studies, but not in meta-analyses of cohort studies using Food Frequency Questionnaires, which can over-report fruit and vegetable intake, the main source of vitamin C. This is the first study to investigate associations between vitamin C intake and breast cancer risk using food diaries.

Subjects/Methods:

Estimated dietary vitamin C intake was derived from 4–7 day food diaries pooled from five prospective studies in the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium. This nested case–control study of 707 incident breast cancer cases and 2144 matched controls examined breast cancer risk in relation to dietary vitamin C intake using conditional logistic regression adjusting for relevant covariates. Additionally, total vitamin C intake from supplements and diet was analysed in three cohorts.

Results:

No evidence of associations was observed between breast cancer risk and vitamin C intake analysed for dietary vitamin C intake (odds ratios (OR)=0.98 per 60 mg/day, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88–1.09, Ptrend=0.7), dietary vitamin C density (OR=0.97 per 60 mg/day, 95% CI: 0.87–1.07, Ptrend=0.5 ) or total vitamin C intake (OR=1.01 per 60 mg/day, 95% CI: 0.99–1.03, Ptrend=0.3). Additionally, there was no significant association for post-menopausal women (OR=1.02 per 60 mg/day, 95% CI: 0.99–1.05, Ptrend=0.3).

Conclusions:

This pooled analysis of individual UK women found no evidence of significant associations between breast cancer incidence and dietary or total vitamin C intake derived uniquely from detailed diary recordings.

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Acknowledgements

The UK Dietary Cohort Consortium is part of the MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival which is funded by the Medical Research Council. The cohorts forming the consortium have received funding from the World Cancer Research Fund, Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the Medical Research Council. Professor Sheila Rodwell (also known professionally as Sheila Bingham), who died in 2009, established the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium as part of the MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival, of which she was director.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    J Hutchinson, V J Burley, J E Cade, C L Cleghorn & D E Threapleton

  2. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratories, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, UK

    M A H Lentjes, A Bhaniani, G Borgulya & K T Khaw

  3. Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, Worsley Building, Leeds, UK

    D C Greenwood

  4. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    T J Key & B J Cairns

  5. MRC Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, UK

    R H Keogh

  6. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    R H Keogh & C C Dahm

  7. Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark

    C C Dahm

  8. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    E J Brunner & M J Shipley

  9. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK

    D Kuh & G Mishra

  10. MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Cambridge, UK

    A M Stephen

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  1. J Hutchinson
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Correspondence to J Hutchinson.

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Hutchinson, J., Lentjes, M., Greenwood, D. et al. Vitamin C intake from diary recordings and risk of breast cancer in the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 561–568 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.197

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