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# Fruit and Vegetables:  Do They Reduce Breast Cancer Risk or Not?
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/fruit_vegetables_reduce_breast_cancer_risk_3112090654/
- Published: 2009-12-31T06:53:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:45:23.000Z
- Description: Following 19,934 women for about seven years, Maillard's team found blood carotenoids, tocopherols and retinol in the top fifth tracked with 26%, 32% and 15% less breast cancer, but none of the associations reached statistical significance.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, Breast Cancer, #vivvo-import

By David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton

A new study suggests that lipophilic antioxidants in fruit and vegetables may not help prevent breast cancer, at least in postmenopausal women.

The study, led by Maillard V and colleagues from Institut Gustave-Roussy in France, found no significant association between breast cancer risk and carotenoids, tocopherols and retinol in the blood of study subjects.

The researchers followed 19,934 women for an average of 7 years and identified 366 cases of incident invasive breast cancer, including 84 premenopausal women and 282 postmenopausal women.

For the study, the participants completed a dietary questionnaire and had their blood samples analyzed at baseline.

Those with serum carotenoids, tocopherols and retinol in the highest quintile were 26 percent, 32 percent and 15 percent, respectively, less likely to have breast cancer compared to those with the lowest quintile.

But the researchers said the associations were not significant.

The study is not a trial. The findings do not suggest that eating fruit and vegetables do not reduce risk of breast cancer.

Another study led by researchers of Chinese University of Hong Kong found an inverse association between vitamin A, carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and fiber intake and risk of breast cancer among Chinese women residing in Guangdong province in China.

For the study, Zhang CX and colleagues conducted a case-control study of 438 study subjects and 438 age- and residence-matched controls. Dietary information was collected through face-to-face interviews.

After adjusting cofounders, those with their consumption of fruit and vegetables in the highest quartile were 72 percent less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, compared to those with their intake of fruit and vegetables in the lowest quartile.

Among individual vegetables and fruit groups, dark green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, carrots and tomatoes, banana, watermelon/papaya/cantaloupe were all inversely associated with breast cancer risk.