Table 5. RR and 95% CI for specific breast tumor characteristics associated with a two-point increment in the Mediterranean diet score.
| Premenopausal1 | Postmenopausal1 | All women | |||||||||||||
| Cases (n) | Mean score2 (SD) | RR (95% CI)3 | Cases (n) | Mean score2 (SD) | RR (95% CI)3 | Cases (n) | Mean score2 (SD) | RR (95% CI)3 | |||||||
| Invasiveness of the tumor | Invasive | 666 | 4.31 (1.72) | 1.10 (1.00–1.21) | 421 | 4.37 (1.73) | 1.02 (0.90–1.14) | 1176 | 4.33 (1.69) | 1.07 (0.99–1.15) | |||||
| In situ | 126 | 4.40 (1.72) | 1.13 (0.91–1.40) | 51 | 4.49 (1.67) | 1.17 (0.83–1.65) | 188 | 4.40 (1.68) | 1.14 (0.95–1.36) | ||||||
| Histological type | Ductal | 560 | 4.33 (1.75) | 1.10 (0.99–1.22) | 365 | 4.32 (1.74) | 0.98 (0.86–1.12) | 1006 | 4.31 (1.70) | 1.05 (0.97–1.13) | |||||
| Lobular | 91 | 4.04 (1.65) | 0.92 (0.71–1.19) | 58 | 4.44 (1.75) | 1.37 (1.00–1.89) | 157 | 4.31 (1.71) | 1.08 (0.89–1.31) | ||||||
| Medullar | 14 | 4.71 (1.64) | 1.57 (0.82–3.01) | 3 | 4.58 (1.44) | 0.91 (0.22–3.79) | 19 | 4.42 (1.54) | 1.32 (0.75–2.30) | ||||||
| ER status | Positive | 478 | 4.24 (1.71) | 1.02 (0.91–1.14) | 347 | 4.32 (1.73) | 0.98 (0.86–1.11) | 874 | 4.29 (1.69) | 1.01 (0.93–1.10) | |||||
| Negative | 131 | 4.35 (1.56) | 1.19 (0.96–1.47) | 64 | 4.40 (1.63) | 1.17 (0.87–1.59) | 227 | 4.34 (1.61) | 1.14 (0.97–1.34) | ||||||
| PR status | Positive | 425 | 4.24 (1.70) | 1.02 (0.91–1.15) | 250 | 4.30 (1.72) | 0.98 (0.84–1.15) | 722 | 4.28 (1.68) | 1.01 (0.92–1.11) | |||||
| Negative | 177 | 4.35 (1.56) | 1.15 (0.95–1.38) | 158 | 4.43 (1.69) | 1.05 (0.87–1.28) | 368 | 4.36 (1.67) | 1.09 (0.96–1.24) | ||||||
| ER/PR status | ER+/PR+ | 395 | 4.28 (1.70) | 1.05 (0.93–1.18) | 246 | 4.34 (1.73) | 0.97 (0.83–1.14) | 680 | 4.30 (1.68) | 1.03 (0.93–1.13) | |||||
| ER−/PR– | 102 | 4.50 (1.54) | 1.34 (1.05–1.71) | 59 | 4.57 (1.63) | 1.18 (0.86–1.62) | 185 | 4.45 (1.60) | 1.23 (1.03–1.47) | ||||||
| ER+/PR– | 75 | 4.15 (1.78) | 0.93 (0.70–1.23) | 99 | 4.29 (1.74) | 0.98 (0.77–1.25) | 183 | 4.26 (1.73) | 0.98 (0.81–1.17) | ||||||
| ER−/PR+ | 30 | 3.77 (1.57) | 0.77 (0.49–1.20) | 4 | 3.74 (1.50) | 3.07 (0.60–15.75) | 42 | 3.86 (1.57) | 0.82 (0.56–1.20) | ||||||
| Malignancy grade | Grade 1 | 138 | 4.12 (1.71) | 0.92 (0.75–1.14) | 121 | 4.16 (1.65) | 0.82 (0.66–1.03) | 268 | 4.15 (1.66) | 0.88 (0.76–1.02) | |||||
| Grade 2 | 223 | 4.30 (1.81) | 1.07 (0.90–1.25) | 190 | 4.45 (1.80) | 1.16 (0.97–1.38) | 443 | 4.40 (1.73) | 1.12 (0.99–1.25) | ||||||
| Grade 3 | 132 | 4.35 (1.65) | 1.13 (0.91–1.39) | 104 | 4.40 (1.75) | 1.08 (0.85–1.37) | 256 | 4.35 (1.69) | 1.08 (0.93–1.26) | ||||||
| Stage | I | 220 | 4.31 (1.71) | 1.06 (0.90–1.25) | 203 | 4.28 (1.68) | 0.92 (0.78–1.09) | 451 | 4.29 (1.69) | 1.00 (0.89–1.12) | |||||
| II | 245 | 4.23 (1.70) | 1.03 (0.88–1.20) | 145 | 4.37 (1.80) | 1.11 (0.91–1.37) | 421 | 4.31 (1.69) | 1.05 (0.93–1.18) | ||||||
| III and IV | 22 | 4.41 (2.26) | 1.23 (0.73–2.07) | 21 | 4.61 (1.73) | 1.11 (0.65–1.89) | 46 | 4.39 (1.88) | 1.17 (0.82–1.68) | ||||||
The same woman can be in both premenopausal and postmenopausal categories, if they were both premenopausal and postmenopausal during the follow-up period.
The Mediterranean score includes the consumption of the following components: alcohol, vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, unsaturated to saturated fat ratio, and dairy and meat products. Its value ranges from 0 to 9 with a high value corresponding to a high adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern as defined in the present report.
Analyses were adjusted for history of breast cancer in mother and/or sister(s), personal history of benign breast disease, smoking status, BMI, height, age at first birth and number of children, educational level, age at menarche, total energy intake, consumption of beverages, potatoes, sweets, and eggs.
Abbreviations: ER, estrogen receptor; n, number of participants, PR, progesterone receptor; RR, relative risk.