Despite much research investigating the role of diet and lifestyle in breast cancer, the evidence for many dietary factors remains uncertain. The main focus of this thesis concerns the role of dietary patterns and fat in breast cancer risk and also recurrence and survival in breast cancer patients. Meta-analyses conducted in this thesis have suggested that a prudent dietary pattern may reduce the risk of breast cancer, whilst a drinker dietary pattern may increase risk. High saturated fat intake was also found to be associated with breast cancer mortality. Data obtained from participants of the DietCompLyf study, a prospective cohort of breast cancer patients in the UK, was used in this thesis to investigate dietary patterns and fat intake in relation to breast cancer recurrence and quality of life. The physical activity questionnaire used in the DietCompLyf study was also retrospectively validated in this thesis to determine how best to use the physical activity information as a confounder in the" diet and breast cancer recurrence and quality of life analyses in this thesis. In participants of the DietCompLyf study, adherence to a Traditional dietary pattern was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer recurrence. A prudent dietary pattern was associated with a better quality of life, whilst Western dietary patterns associated with a poorer quality of life in unadjusted analyses. The complicated nature of the diet and quality of life relationship was highlighted when adjustment for potential confounders modified and attenuated the observed associations. Results observed in this thesis suggest possible roles for diet in both risk of breast cancer and breast cancer mortality. Further analyses of data obtained from the DietCompLyf cohort should be conducted in the future to clarify theses observations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:579612 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Brennan, Sarah Frances Mary |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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