Proof that fruit and vegetable diet helps prevent breast cancer

Heather Eliassen, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues presented the first definitive proof that carotenoids (micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables) do reduce the potential for the development of both estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor–negative (ER-) breast cancers in the December 6, 2012, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The research involved all published studies of the affects of carotenoids on estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor–negative (ER-) breast cancers and included 3,055 case subjects and 3,956 matched control subjects. Blood levels of carotenoids were stsndardized for comparison.

Normal (left) versus cancerous (right) mammography image.

Photo credit: 

Courtesy of the National Cancer Institute. http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/genetics/sect2.htm This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the National Institutes of Health.

The scientists found a direct lowering of the risk for development of estrogen receptor–negative (ER-) breast cancers and a potential for the slowing of the growth of estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancers simply by eating more fruits and vegetables.
This is the first directly modifiable drug free breast cancer fighting method found to date.
Almost 1200 women die in Alabama every year from breast cancer according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control.
The research was reviewed at the Eureka Alert website on the date of publication.