Intake of polyphenols, phenolic acids and lignans associated with lower mortality in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer represents one of the main causes of mortality among women, and the consumption of bioactive compounds seems to contribute to improving the prognosis of the disease. However, the relationship between polyphenol intake and breast cancer has not yet been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between polyphenol intake and breast cancer mortality, survival and recurrence. This is an observational study with a prospective sample of ninety-five women, followed up for an average of 11·5 years. Intake of polyphenols was assessed using an FFQ and estimated using the Phenol-Explorer® database. Cox proportional hazard models were used to investigate the associations. Survival curves were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. An inverse association was found between the intake of total polyphenols, phenolic acids and lignans and the risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0·20, 95 % CI (0·05, 0·80); HR = 0·09, 95 % CI (0·01, 0·50); HR = 0·15, 95 % CI (0·04, 0·63), respectively). Phenolic acids also showed an inverse association with breast cancer recurrence (HR = 0·35, 95 % CI (0·13, 0·98)) and all-cause mortality (HR = 0·23, 95 % CI (0·07, 0·77)). Coffee was the major contributor to total polyphenol, phenolic acid and lignan intake. Total polyphenol intake was associated with longer survival when breast cancer mortality was considered (P = 0·048). In conclusion, higher intake of polyphenols was associated with lower breast cancer-specific mortality. In addition, phenolic acids were associated with lower all-cause mortality and breast cancer recurrence. Further studies are needed to confirm these associations.