Table 1.
Study characteristics, exposure levels, ORs, HR, RR (95% CI), and results of published studies on dairy products intake in relation to breast cancer risk.
| No. | Study title | Author’s name, and year of publication | Country | Study design | Sample size | Dairy product type | Exposure levels | ORs, HR, RR (95% CI) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dairy Consumption and Incidence of Breast Cancer in the ‘Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra’ (SUN) Project [15] | Aguilera-Buenosvinos et al. (2021) | Spain | Prospective | 10,930 women follow-up period of 12.1 years. confirmed 119 incident BC cases |
-Total dairy | 3–4 servings per day | 0.49 (0.29–0.84) | Females in the 2nd and 3rd quartiles of whole dairy intake showed a significant inversely proportional relationship. |
| -Whole-fat dairy | 1.6 servings per day | 1.09 (0.63–1.87) | They observed no associations between BC and whole-fat dairy consumption. | ||||||
| -Low-fat dairy | 1.7 servings per day | 0.55 (0.32–0.92) | Compared with women in the low-fat dairy consumption category, women with moderate intake had significantly higher total BC. | ||||||
| 2. | Dairy, soy, and risk of BC: those confounded milk [9] | Fraser et al. (2020) | USA | Prospective | 52,795 women follow-up period of 7.9 years confirmed 1057 new BC women | -Milk | 0.63 kcal/g | 1.50 (1.22–1.84) | Higher dairy milk consumption was related. No relationships were found with cheese or yogurt. |
| -Cheese | 3.2–3.9 kcal/g | 0.89 (0.69–1.14) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | 0.6–0.9 kcal/g | 0.98 (0.82–1.17) | |||||||
| 3. | Milk Consumption Decreases Risk for Breast Cancer in Korean Women under 50 years of Age: Results from the Health Examinees Study [16] | Shin et al. (2019) | Korea | Prospective | 78,320 participant follow-up period of 6.3 years confirmed 359 BC | -Milk | ≥1 serving/day | 0.58 (0.35, 0.97) | In women under the age of 50, increased milk intake was related with a decreased incidence of BC (p = .0195). This interaction, however, was not statistically significant. In either age group, we found no link between BC risk and yogurt or cheese consumption. |
| -Cheese | ≥2 serving /week | 1.43 (0.69, 2.96) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | ≥1 serving/day | 1.03 (0.61, 1.74) | |||||||
| 4. | Effect of dairy products intake on breast cancer risk: A case-control study in Algeria [17] | Maliou et al. (2018) | Algeria | Case control | 184 BC cases and 184 controls | -Total dairy | 418.97 g/d | 1.50 (0.77–2.92) | Each type of dairy product may affect BC risk differently. Milk consumption was related to higher risk; however, total and fresh cheese was linked with reducing the risk of BC development. |
| -Milk | 254.49 g/d | 2.61 (1.32–5.16) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | 84.87 g/d | 0.60 (0.31–1.15) | |||||||
| -Cheese | 39.00 g/d | 0.38 (0.18–0.78) | |||||||
| 5. | Dairy Consumption in Adolescence and Early Adulthood and Risk of Breast Cancer [18] | Farvid et al. (2018) | Boston, USA | Prospective | 90,503 premenopausal women follow-up confirmed 3191 cases of invasive BC were identified from 1991 through 2013. Among women with adolescent dietary intake, 1318 cases of invasive BC from 1998 through 2013. | -Total dairy | 1 serving/day | 1.02 (0.97–1.07) | The consumption of total dairy food in adolescence and adulthood was shown to be unrelated to the overall risk of BC (per serving per day in adolescence. |
| -Low-fat dairy | 1 serving/day | 1.00 (0.94–1.06) | |||||||
| -High-fat dairy. | 1 serving/day | 0.97 (0.93–1.02) | |||||||
| 6. | Animal foods and postmenopausal breast cancer risk: a prospective cohort study [19] | Marcondes et al. (2018) | Netherlands | Prospective | 3209 women follow-up period of 17 years confirmed 199 BC cases. | -Total dairy | 420 (SD 229.7) g/d | 0·99 (0·65, 1·50) | There was no consistent link established among dairy intake and the risk of development of BC. |
| -Cheese | 34 (SD 19.8) g/d | 1·19 (0·79, 1·78) | |||||||
| -Milk | 305 (SD 212.9) g/d | 1·31 (0·87, 2·00) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | 68 (range 1–991.3) g/d | 0·97 (0·65, 1·45) | |||||||
| 7. | Usual Consumption of Specific Dairy Foods Is Associated with Breast Cancer in the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Data Bank and Biorepository [20] | McCann et al. (2017) | USA | Case-Control | 1941 BC cases and 1237 controls | -Total dairy | ≥ 42 serving\month | 0.85 (0.68–1.06) | Total dairy consumption and yogurt consumption had an inverse relationship with BC, whereas other cheese had a positive relationship. Our findings imply that some dairy foods may influence BC risk. |
| -Milk | ≥ 28 serving\month | 0.96 (0.75–1.24) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | ≥ 14 serving\month | 0.61 (0.46–0.82) | |||||||
| -Cheese | ≥ 14 serving\month | 1.53 (0.99–2.34) | |||||||
| 8. | Breast cancer - Analysis of the selected risk factors [21] | Plagens-Rotman et al. (2017) | Poland | Cross-Sectional | 762 women (79 BC cases and 683 healthy women). | -Total dairy products | 125 g/day | 0.58 (0.30, 1.11) | Women who consumed 125 g of dairy food per day had a lower risk compared to women who did not consume it. |
| 9. | Dietary patterns and breast cancer risk in a prospective Japanese study [22] | Kojima et al. (2016) | Japan | Prospective | 23,172 women follow-up period of 16.9 years confirmed 119 incidences of BC |
-Total dairy | High | 1.32 (0.70–2.49) | Dairy consumption was not associated with an increased risk of BC development. |
| 10. | Dietary Patterns and Risk of Breast Cancer in Women in Guilan Province, Iran [23] | Ahmadnia et al. (2016) | Iran | Case-Control | 225 BC cases and 225 controls | -Milk and dairy products | 2–3 glass/day | 0.6 (0.4–0.9) | Daily intake of two to three cups of milk and milk food, as opposed to more than three glasses of milk products, lowered BC risk by 40%. |
| 11. | Dietary habits contributing to breast cancer risk among Iranian women [24] | Mobarakeh et al. (2014) | Iran | Case-Control | 53 BC cases and 40 controls | -Milk | High intake | 17.45 (2.19–138.98) | Women who consume full-fat dairy products, including milk and cheese, have a significantly increased the risk of development of BC than women who did not consume. |
| -Yogurt | 6.8 (2.08–22.17) | ||||||||
| -Cheese | 6.88 (1.44–32.77) | ||||||||
| 12. | Is dairy intake associated to breast cancer? A case-control study of Iranian women [25] | Bahadoran et al. (2014) | Iran | Case-Control | 275 women (100 cases and 175 controls). | -Total dairy | > 680 g/d | 0.14 (0.04–0.38) | As overall dairy consumption increased, the risk of development of BC decreased (p < .001). |
| -Low-fat dairy | > 680 g/d | 0.10 (0.03–0.34) | A decreased incidence of BC was also observed when low-fat dairy consumption was increased (p < .001). | ||||||
| -High-fat dairy | < 224g/d | 0.22 (0.07–062) | Reduced the risk of BC was linked to a lesser consumption of high-fat dairy products. | ||||||
| 13. | Calorie intake, olive oil consumption, and mammographic density among Spanish women [26] | García-Arenzana et al. (2014) | Spain | Cross-Sectional | 3548 women (Premenopausal (n = 811); Postmenopausal (n = 2737) |
-Whole milk | > 200 g/d | 1.10 (1.00-1.20) | Higher whole milk consumption was linked to a higher mammography density associated with BC risk. |
| 14. | Consumption of dairy and meat in relation to breast cancer risk in the Black Women’s Health Study [27] | Genkinger et al. (2013) | Boston, USA | Prospective | 52,062 women follow-up period of 12 years confirmed 1,268 incident BC cases | -Whole milk | ≥ 250 g/week | 0.96 (0.73–1.26) | Association of BC with whole milk was not statistically significant. Furthermore, there was a moderate not significant inverse association between hard cheese and yogurt consumption and BC risk. |
| -Cheese | ≥ 75 g/week | 0.88 (0.68–1.12) | |||||||
| -Yogurt | ≥ 454 g/week | 0.91 (0.71–1.17) | |||||||
| 15. | Dairy products, calcium intake, and breast cancer risk: a case-control study in China [28] | Zhang et al. (2011) | China | Case-Control | 438 BC cases and 438 controls | -Total dairy | 8.15 g/d | 0.73 (0.52–1.02) | High consumption of whole milk and low-fat milk products was found to be inversely related to the risk of BC development (based on whole milk and low-fat milk dry weight, respectively). |
| -High-fat dairy | 5.17 g/d | 0.84 (0.60–1.17) | |||||||
| -Low-fat dairy | 2.98 g/d | 0.76 (0.56–1.03) | |||||||
| 16. | Adolescent diet in relation to breast cancer risk among premenopausal women [29] | Linos et al. (2010) | USA | Prospective | 39,268 premenopausal women follow-up period of 7.8 years confirmed 455 incident cases of invasive BC | -Full-fat milk | High intake | 1.09 (0.73–1.63) | There was no significant correlation found between total milk or dairy consumption. |
| -Total dairy | 0.90 (0.64–1.27) | ||||||||
| -High-fat milk | 0.95 (0.68–1.35) | ||||||||
| 17. | Meat, eggs, dairy products, and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort [30] | Pala et al. (2009) | Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom | Prospective | 319,826 women follow-up period of 8.8 years confirmed 7119 BC cases | -Whole milk | 150 g/d | 1.06 (0.97, 1.15) | There was no consistent link established between BC risk and dairy product usage. |
| -Cheese | 82.1 g/d | 0.97 (0.89, 1.06) | |||||||
| 18. | Dietary factors and breast cancer risk: a case-control study among a population in Southern France [31] | Bessaoud et al. (2008) | Southern France | Case-Control | 437 BC cases and 922 controls | -Total dairy | 134.3 and 271.2 g/day | 1.57 (1.06–2.32) | Compared to the risk linked with decreased intake (134.3 g/d), the risk of developing BC is associated with higher intake, between 134.3 and 271.2 g/d. |