Healthy diet plans can lower risk of ovarian cancer in African-American women

Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common form of cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, the CDC reports. In fact, in 2012, ovarian cancer took the lives of 14,404 women and was diagnosed in 20,785 patients.

A new study presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved showed that a healthy diet may reduce the risk for ovarian cancer among African-American women, Eurekalert reports. In fact, African-American women are less likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer than Caucasian women, but African-Americans are more likely to die from it.

Medical Daily reports that researchers led by Dr. Bo (Bonnie) Qin, a postdoctoral associate at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey analyzed the efficiency of three dieting plans, namely the 2005 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2005), the 2010 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010), and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010). Researchers studied the diets of 415 women with ovarian cancer and 629 control patients by analyzing data provided by the African-American Cancer Epidemiology Study, which is a population-based case-control study of ovarian cancer among African-American women in 11 sites within the U.S.

The participants answered questions about their diets 12 months before their diagnosis for ovarian cancer patients and 12 months before their interview, for the control group.

Researchers found that African-American women who followed the AHEI-2010 diet were 34% less likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer compared to the women who had the lowest adherence to the AHEI-2010. Additionally, post-menopausal women in the highest quartile of the HEI-2010 scores were also 43% less likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Women in the highest quartile of AHEI-2010 had a 51% risk for ovarian cancer.

According to Dr. Qin, "As a high quality diet is likely to have benefits for many chronic conditions, it is probably a safe bet for better health in general."

"Because there is currently no reliable screening available for ovarian cancer, most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages," she explained. "That highlights a critical need for identifying modifiable lifestyle factors, including dietary interventions."

Healthday reports that according to Dr. Stephen Rubin, chief of gynecologic oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, the study's results show that an adherence to a healthy diet—one that includes a higher intake of vegetables, seafood and plant proteins and a lower intake of calories from solid fats, alcohol and added sugars—was associated with a significantly reduced risk of ovarian cancer."

"Although the study is limited by the fact that patients may not accurately recall dietary details, these observations suggest yet another advantage to a healthy high-quality diet, which has been shown to have important health benefits for a large variety of serious medical conditions," he commented.