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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Dec 14.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Res. 2009 Dec 15;69(24):9323. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-1018

Table 2.

Mean percent mammographic density among postmenopausal (at both mammography and blood) controls according to quintiles of circulating carotenoids, Nurses’ Heath Study

Quintiles of Circulating Carotenoids
1 (low) 2 3 4 5 (high) p-trend
α-carotene
Age 18.4 23.4 25.3 28.6 29.5 <0.0001
Age+BMI1 22.8 24.7 24.9 26.7 26.3 0.06
MV2 22.2 24.5 25.3 27.0 26.4 0.03
N 127 115 128 130 126
β-carotene
Age 19.4 22.4 27.7 28.0 28.8 <0.0001
Age+BMI1 24.3 24.3 26.6 25.2 25.4 0.56
MV2 23.7 24.3 26.6 25.5 25.6 0.38
N 134 130 114 122 126
β-cryptoxanthin
Age 19.7 21.9 25.3 27.6 30.9 <0.0001
Age+BMI1 24.0 23.0 25.6 25.3 27.5 0.04
MV2 23.9 22.9 25.5 25.9 27.1 0.04
N 123 121 132 126 124
Lycopene
Age 18.7 26.4 27.3 23.5 29.4 0.0002
Age+BMI1 21.3 27.2 25.6 23.9 27.3 0.05
MV2 21.5 27.0 25.6 24.0 27.2 0.05
N 123 133 133 118 119
Lutein/zeaxanthin
Age 17.8 25.1 25.5 24.8 30.6 <0.0001
Age+BMI1 22.7 25.0 26.4 24.1 26.8 0.11
MV2 23.0 24.9 27.2 23.9 26.1 0.23
N 102 131 125 134 134
Total Carotenoids 3
Age 17.2 23.6 27.6 27.6 28.2 <0.0001
Age+BMI1 22.4 24.5 27.0 25.4 26.6 0.02
MV2 22.4 24.3 27.1 25.5 26.5 0.02
N 129 130 114 135 118
1

age (continuous), BMI (continuous),

2

age (continuous), body mass index (continuous, kg/m2), family history of breast cancer (yes or no), parity and age at birth of first child (nulliparous, parous with age at first birth <25 years, parous with age at first birth of 25-29 years, parous with age at first birth of ≥30 years), alcohol consumption (0, <5, 5 to <15, ≥15 g/day), benign breast disease (yes/no), PMH use (never, past, current)

3

Total carotenoids are the sum of individual concentrations of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin