Cutting Fat May Reduce Ovarian Cancer Risk

A low-fat diet may help postmenopausal women reduce the risk of a deadly cancer.

ByABC News
February 10, 2009, 5:18 PM

Oct. 9, 2007 — -- Good news for postmenopausal women on healthy diets: A low-fat diet may also lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

In a randomized controlled study following 48,835 postmenopausal women over an average of eight years, those who ate a low-fat diet -- more whole grains, fruits and vegetables -- showed a lower risk of developing ovarian cancer in the last four years of the study.

The lower risk, however, was not apparent when all eight years of the study were taken into account -- suggesting that any benefits of such a diet against ovarian cancer required adherence to the healthy regimen.

The study appears in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Lead author Ross Prentice, interim director of the public health sciences division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, views this as a promising finding. Unlike shorter, less rigorous and less expensive previous studies, this, he said, is "quite an unusual study [because] it is a randomized trial" in which women were followed for a longer period of time.

"The women whose intake is comparatively high in fat content -- 35 percent of calories from fat -- and who make the biggest reduction in fat content in their diet exemplify the strongest reduction in ovarian cancer risk."

The findings could potentially benefit thousands of postmenopausal women who are attempting to take strides in the prevention of this deadly cancer.

Dr. Brent DuBeshter, director of gynecologic oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, agrees. "Because there is no early detection method for ovarian cancer and it is difficult to treat, any proven preventive measure, including dietary intervention, is important."

But skeptics remain. Dr. Tim Byers, professor of the department of preventive medicine and biometrics and deputy director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, said, "I am not convinced. There were many changes in the diet of these women."