By David Liu PHD

Sunday April 28, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating fruit and vegetables that are high in carotenoids may help prevent breast cancer, according to a new study.

The study led by Xuehong Zhang of Channing Laboratory at Landmark Center in Boston and colleagues found that intakes of α-Carotene, β-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin were inversely associated with the risk of ER-negative (ER−) breast cancer.

Specifically, women whose intakes of α-Carotene, β-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin in the highest quintile were 13, 16 and 13 percent reduced risk for estrogen receptor (ER) - negative breast cancer, compared to those whose intakes were in the lowest quintile.

The study involved 1,028,438 participants who were followed up for up to 26 years in 18 cohort studies.  During follow-up, 33,380 incident invasive breast cancers were identified.

The study did not find an inverse association between the risk of ER positive breast cancer and intakes of α-Carotene, β-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin.

However, β-cryptoxanthin, which is found high in sweet peppers, pumpkin and squash, was found to be inversely associated with both ER negative and positive breast cancers while lycopene intake was not found associated with breast cancer risk. 

The authors said "The associations were largely not appreciably modified by several breast cancer risk factors."

Also α-Carotene, β-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin were found to have non-significant associations with progesterone receptor (PR)-positive and PR-negative breast cancer.