When And How You Eat May Affect BC Risk

Women who fast for at least 12 hours overnight—from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., for example—may reduce their risk of breast cancer, according to research in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and presented at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.

They also reduced their blood glucose, which helps fight against diabetes. And some forms of breast cancer, especially triple-negative, are linked to insulin resistance, including high glucose.

And get this: Each three-hour increase in nighttime fasting was associated with a 4 percent lower glucose level after eating, regardless of how much the women ate.

“The dietary advice for cancer prevention usually focuses on limiting consumption of red meat, alcohol and refined grains while increasing plant-based foods,” said co-author Ruth Patterson, PhD, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center associate director for population sciences and program leader of the cancer prevention program. “New evidence suggests that when and how often people eat can also play a role in cancer risk.”

Women in the study reported eating five times per day with a mean nighttime fasting of 12 hours. Those who reported longer fast durations also indicated they consumed fewer calories per day, ate fewer calories after 10 p.m. and had fewer eating episodes.

Source: News release from the American Association of Cancer Research

Early Stress Management May Reduce Cancer Risk

Managing stress early on has long-term benefits to women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, according to the online journal CANCER.

Patients who learned relaxation techniques and new coping skills in a supportive group over 10 weeks were less depressed and had a better quality of life up to 15 years later.

“Women with breast cancer who participated in the study initially used stress management techniques to cope with the challenges of primary treatment to lower distress. Because these stress management techniques also give women tools to cope with fears of recurrence and disease progression, the present results indicate that these skills can be used to reduce distress and depressed mood and optimize quality of life across the survivorship period as women get on with their lives,” said lead author Jamie Stagl, who is currently at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston.

Women with breast cancer worry for years about recurrence, which can strongly affect their view of life after cancer and this research may guide docs in warding off some of those most serious effects. The key: deal with the issue of stress directly, professionally, and early on. And this may do more than improve our moods. It may reduce risk of recurrence, says Michael Antoni, PhD, of the University of Miami, who developed the stress management techniques used in this research:

“Because depressive symptoms have been associated with neuroendocrine and inflammatory processes that may influence cancer progression, our ongoing work is examining the effects of stress management on depression and inflammatory biomarkers on the one hand, and disease recurrence and survival on the other.”