> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Vitamins/minerals supplements cut breast cancer death risk
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/multivitamin_minerals_supplements_1117131236/
- Published: 2013-11-17T13:34:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:15:50.000Z
- Description: Among 7,728 Women's Health Initiative participants diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and followed about seven years, those taking multivitamin and mineral supplements had a 30% lower rate of death from the disease, an association that held after adjusting for confounders.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Vitamins, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Sunday Nov 17, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- In the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, a study suggests that taking multivitamin/minerals supplements can reduce the risk of premature death from invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

S. Wassertheil-Smoller from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York and colleague conducted the study and found invasive breast cancer mortality or rate of death from breast cancer was 30% lower in those taking multivitamins, compared with those who didn't take any.

Multivitamins with minerals are the most commonly used supplement in the United States and it is unknown whether multivitamins with minerals supplements used by women with diagnosed invasive breast cancer help reduce risk of death from breast cancer in the patients.

The study was based on data from 7,728 women aged 50-79 enrolled in the women's health initiative (WHI) study who were diagnosed with incident invasive breast cancer during the study and the 7-year postdiagnosis follow-up.

Use of multivitamins/minerals supplements was surveyed at the first visit and at the visit closest to breast cancer diagnosis. At baseline, 37.8 % of women reported use o multivitamin/minerals supplements. After a mean 7.1-year postdiagnosis follow-up, 518 women died from breast cancer.

After adjustment for cofounders, those who took multivitamin/minerals supplements were at 30% reduced risk for breast cancer mortality, compared with those who did not take the supplements. The association was strong and not affected by adjustment for confounders.

Breast cancer is diagnosed in 230,000 women each year in the United States. The disease, which is largely preventable, and its complications kill 37,000 women annually in the country. (David Liu, PHD)