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Ovarian Cancer Odds Lowered with High-Fiber, Low-Fat Diet

Here’s another reason to eat right: It could lower your risk of ovarian cancer

Older women who stick to a low-fat, high-fiber diet could cut their odds for ovarian cancer, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In fact, postmenopausal women who stayed on the regimen for more than eight years reduced their risk for the disease by 40 percent, researchers say. And those who saw the greatest benefit from the low-fat diet were women who had originally eaten a relatively high-fat diet, the researchers add.

On average, the women in the study had managed to add one serving of fruits or vegetables to their daily diet by the end of the six-year follow-up. They had also reduced their daily fat consumption by about 8 percent.

The findings reinforce the importance of healthy diet and lifestyle, says Jefferson gynecologic oncologist Norman G. Rosenblum, MD, PhD.

“We know there’s a link between obesity and endometrial cancer and other forms of cancer, and so it’s not surprising to learn that there’s a connection between diet and ovarian cancer,” Dr. Rosenblum notes.

Besides helping curb cancer, Dr. Rosenblum notes that a low-fat, high-fiber diet would also be beneficial in reducing the risk of other chronic diseases – such as heart disease.

About the study

The new multi-center study was led by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The findings come on the heels of a similar study released by the same group in April. That study found that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables helps reduce the risk of head and neck cancers.

The same team has also shown that low-fat diets cut the odds of breast and colorectal cancers. Prior to the publication of this analysis, the impact of particular diets on ovarian cancer was unknown.

In the study, the research team recruited almost 50,000 postmenopausal women between 50 and 79 years old. Almost 20,000 of those women were randomly assigned to eat a low-fat diet in which fat intake totaled less than 20 percent of daily calories. They also ate at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and at least six servings of whole grains.

The women received 18 diet-support group sessions in the first year to help keep them on track and then quarterly maintenance meetings during the following years.

The researchers then monitored the women’s rates of ovarian and/or endometrial malignancies over the next eight years.

The result: Rates of ovarian cancer were roughly similar for women during the first four years of the study, whether they were enrolled on the low-fat diet or not.

But by the end of more than eight years of follow-up, a clear trend emerged, with women on the healthier diet having a 40 percent reduction in ovarian cancer incidence.

Easier said than done?

Study participants had the benefit of intensive lifestyle and dietary counseling – something most women simply don’t have access to.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t make meaningful changes, says Emily Rubin, a registered dietitian in Jefferson’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatalogy.

Rubin recommends that women follow the Food Pyramid guidelines set out by the US Department of Agriculture.

“The pyramid is much more informative and individualized than it used to be,” Rubin says. “You plug in your weight and height, and it tells you exactly what to eat and the serving size.”

For more tips on adopting better eating habits, read the Keep in Touch article on healthy eating .

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