Low-Fat Diets Vs. Breast Cancer?

Study Shows They May Help Keep Disease From Recurring

(CBS)  A new study shows eating a low-fat diet may help prevent breast cancer from returning.

The study, explains The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay, looked at post-menopausal women who'd had early stage breast cancer and the standard treatment for it, meaning surgery, chemotherapy and the cancer drug tamoxifen, if the woman was a candidate.

One group ate a regular diet and the other, a low-fat diet, and they were followed for five years.

The women who followed a modest low-fat diet were 24 percent less likely to have their cancer return.

What's interesting about these results, Senay points out, is that women whose tumors weren't fueled by estrogen (and women with these types of tumors don't benefit from taking tamoxifen) benefited the most from a low-fat diet, lowering their risk of relapse by 42 percent.

The women who maintained a regular diet didn't change their fat intake, and averaged about 51 grams of fat per day. The women on the low-fat diet reduced their fat intake to an average of about 33 grams per day.

Reducing fat intake and following a healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins is always a good idea. But it's important to note that this study's findings are somewhat controversial.

The researchers aren't really sure why this worked. The women on the low-fat diet also lost an average of four pounds, and adjusted other things. For instance, they began eating more fruits and vegetables and less red meat.

What we don't want to do, Senay added, is make a breast cancer survivor feel guilty if she has a piece of cake.

The study was released at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.

Another study unveiled at the conference found that colon cancer patients who took aspirin were about 50 percent less likely to have a relapse.

Previous studies have shown that aspirin lowers the risk of developing colon cancer and polyps.

This study is the largest to show that aspirin can actually prevent colon cancer from coming back.

That doesn't necessarily mean that all colon cancer patients should start popping aspirin. There are other health issues that can come up with aspirin use. So if you're considering it, ask your doctor before you do anything.