Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen O, Denmark.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2011 Aug;128(3):883-9. doi: 10.1007/s10549-011-1397-2. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Experimental and epidemiological studies have suggested that the phytoestrogen enterolactone is associated to biological mechanisms that may have positive effects on breast cancer development. In a recent study based on American breast cancer patients, high intakes of lignans, the precursor of enterolactone, was found related to lower mortality. The aim of this study was, for the first time, to evaluate if prediagnostic plasma levels of enterolactone were associated to mortality in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Among 24,697 postmenopausal women included into a Danish cohort between 1993 and 1997, 424 developed breast cancer before December 31, 2000. Enterolactone levels were measured in baseline blood samples and related to mortality by Cox proportional hazard models. During a median of 10 years after breast cancer diagnosis, 111 women died (80 from breast cancer). When comparing women with enterolactone levels above the median (>20.5 nmol/l) to those with lower levels, decreased hazard rates (HR) were seen for both all-cause mortality (HR: 0.47; 95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.68) and breast cancer mortality (HR: 0.56; 95% confidence interval: 0.36-0.87). Higher prediagnostic plasma levels of enterolactone were found related to lower mortality among breast cancer patients.
实验和流行病学研究表明，植物雌激素肠内酯与可能对乳腺癌发展产生积极影响的生物学机制有关。在最近一项基于美国乳腺癌患者的研究中，发现大量摄入木质素（肠内酯的前体）与较低的死亡率有关。本研究首次评估了诊断前血浆中肠内酯水平是否与乳腺癌女性的死亡率有关。在 1993 年至 1997 年间纳入丹麦队列的 24697 名绝经后妇女中，有 424 人在 2000 年 12 月 31 日前被诊断患有乳腺癌。在基线血液样本中测量了肠内酯水平，并通过 Cox 比例风险模型将其与死亡率相关联。在乳腺癌诊断后平均 10 年期间，有 111 名妇女死亡（80 名死于乳腺癌）。将肠内酯水平高于中位数（>20.5nmol/l）的妇女与水平较低的妇女进行比较，发现全因死亡率（HR：0.47；95%置信区间：0.32-0.68）和乳腺癌死亡率（HR：0.56；95%置信区间：0.36-0.87）的危险率降低。较高的诊断前血浆肠内酯水平与乳腺癌患者死亡率降低有关。
