Multivitamins Not Found to Reduce Risk of Cancer or Cardiovascular Disease

Many postmenopausal women take multivitamins in the belief that they help prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer, but a large study has found that they do neither.

Previous studies have had mixed results, some suggesting that multivitamin supplements are associated with a reduced risk for some cancers, others finding little or no effect.

For the new findings, published in the February issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed data from 68,132 women who were enrolled in a clinical trial and 93,676 in an observational study. They followed the women for an average of about eight years to track the health effects of multivitamins.

After controlling for age, physical activity, family history of cancer and many other factors, the researchers found that the supplements had no effect on the risk for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, heart attack, stroke, blood clots or mortality.

The scientists acknowledge that women who take vitamins also engage in other healthy behaviors, and that there may be unknown variables affecting their results.

“Consumers spend money on dietary supplements with the thought that they are going to improve their health, but there’s no evidence for this,” said Marian L. Neuhouser, the lead author and a nutritional epidemiologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “Buying more fruits and vegetables might be a better choice.”

source: nytimes.com

Pregnancy May Delay Treatment Of Breast Cancer

By Karla Gale
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When breast cancer develops during pregnancy, its diagnosis and treatment of are often delayed. As a result, the woman's long-term survival may be jeopardized, doctors at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report.

"Pregnancy-associated breast cancer is the most frequent cancer associated with pregnancy," Dr. George H. Perkins told Reuters Health, but it is low on the list of possible diagnoses that most doctors consider.

Furthermore, pregnancy can mask symptoms of breast cancer, making it more difficult to recognize, he noted.

The team identified all the cases of breast cancer associated with pregnancy that were treated at their institution between 1973 and 2006; 51 developed during pregnancy while 53 occurred within a year after pregnancy.

Women with pregnancy-associated breast cancer had more advanced tumors than similar young women who were not pregnant, indicating delayed diagnosis. Nevertheless, outcomes were similar in the two groups, the researchers report in the medical journal Cancer.

That's probably because most women were given a course of chemotherapy before undergoing surgery, Perkins said.

Among the 51 women who developed breast cancer during pregnancy, 25 received no treatment until after delivery. There was a trend toward worse 10-year survival rates with deferred treatment compared with treatment during pregnancy.

In addition to timely treatment, the research team also urges thorough diagnostic evaluation of breast symptoms that occur during pregnancy, using ultrasound or, with proper shielding of the fetus, mammography.