Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A study of 7,728 women shows that the risk of death from breast cancer was 30% lower in women taking multivitamins compared to non-users.
The American Cancer Society estimates the economic impact of cancer to be $226 billion per year, with 1 in 4 U.S. deaths each year attributable to cancer (1). Regarding breast cancer, the National Cancer Institute estimates 232,340 new cases and 39,620 new deaths in 2013 (2).
The Centers of Disease Control recommend several prevention strategies for breast cancer, including knowing your family history, getting enough physical activity, smart dietary choices, limiting alcohol consumption, and getting informed about hormone replacement therapy (3). Now a new study (4) suggests that multivitamin use may contribute to a decrease risk of breast cancer.
In the study, 7,728 women between the ages of 50 and 79 who were participating in the women’s health initiative (5), and diagnosed with incident invasive breast cancer were followed for an average of 7.1 years after breast cancer diagnosis. The subjects completed multiple questionnaires, including information on multivitamin use for vitamins used at least once a week in the last 2 weeks.
Before the study began, 37.8% of 7,728 women in the study were taking multivitamins, with 518 women dying from breast cancer during the 7.1-year follow-up. The researchers found the risk of death from breast cancer was 30% lower in women taking multivitamins compared to non-users (p < 0.01). Unfortunately, the researchers admitted to not obtaining information on frequency of use but did state that “multivitamins with minerals usually have 20–30 vitamins and minerals and often at levels of 100% of the US RDA and are usually recommended on the bottle to be taken daily.”
The researchers suggested two possible modes of action of the multivitamins that produced this reduced risk of death from breast cancer: helping to maintain the health of the energy-producing part of the cell, the mitochondrion (6), and inhibiting the ability of blood vessels to form in the presence of cancers (7).
For the researchers, “Postmenopausal women with invasive breast cancer using multivitamins had lower breast cancer mortality than non-users” and that “The results suggest a possible role for daily multivitamin use in attenuating breast cancer mortality in women with invasive breast cancer but the findings require confirmation.”
Source: Wassertheil-Smoller, Sylvia, A. P. McGinn, N. Budrys, R. Chlebowski, G. Y. Ho, K. C. Johnson, D. S. Lane et al. “Multivitamin and mineral use and breast cancer mortality in older women with invasive breast cancer in the women’s health initiative.” Breast cancer research and treatment 141, no. 3 (2013): 495-505.
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Posted November 22, 2013.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com
References:
- “The Economic Impact of Cancer” form the American Cancer Society Website.
- “Breast Cancer” posted on the National Cancer Institute Website.
- “Prevention: Breast Cancer” posted on the CDC website.
- Wassertheil-Smoller S. Multivitamin and mineral use and breast cancer mortality in older women with invasive breast cancer in the women’s health initiative. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2013 Oct 9. [Epub ahead of print].
- Group TWS. Design of the Women’s Health Initiative clinical Trial and Observational Study. Control Clin Trials 1988; 19:61–109.
- Sotgia F, Martinez-Outschoorn UE, Lisanti MP (2011) Mitochondrial oxidative stress drives tumor progression and metastasis: should we use antioxidants as a key component of cancer treatment and prevention? BMC Med 9:62.
- Premkumar VG, Yuvaraj S, Sathish S, Shanthi P, Sachdanandam P (2008) Anti-angiogenic potential of Coenzyme Q10, riboflavin and niacin in breast cancer patients undergoing tamoxifen therapy. Vascul Pharmacol 48(4–6):191–201.
