Fish consumption and risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis of 27 observational studies

• Main Authors: Wu Zhihui, Yan Weihua, Wu Zupei, Huang Jinlin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arán Ediciones, S. L.
• Series: Nutrición Hospitalaria
• Subjects: Cáncer de mama; Consumo de pescado; Revisión sistemática; Metaanálisis; Riesgo relativo
• Online Access: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0212-16112016000300030&lng=en&tlng=en

Objectives: The association between fish consumption and the risk of breast cancer has not been established yet. Results from epidemiological studies are inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the association between fish consumption and the risk of breast cancer. Methods: We identified eligible studies in Medline and EMBASE up to February 2015 and the reference lists of original studies and review articles on this topic. Summary relative risks with their 95% confidence intervals were calculated with a random-effects model. Results: We identified 27 studies eligible for analysis. The summary relative risk of breast cancer for the highest consumption of fish compared with the lowest was 0.96 (95% CI = 0.87-1.07), with evidence of heterogeneity (Q = 69.09, p < 0.001, I² = 68.0%). Four studies investigated lean fish consumption and revealed that there was a small increase in the risk of breast cancer (summary RR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.00-1.19). As only four studies were included in the subgroup analysis, results must be interpreted with caution. Conclusions: The overall current literature on fish consumption and the risk of breast cancer suggested no association. Further well-designed prospective studies are needed to explore fish consumption in relation to breast cancer risk.