What should hormone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) breast cancer patients and survivors eat?

Hormone receptor positive breast cancer has both estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and progesterone receptor positive (PR+) tumor receptor status. Up to two-thirds of invasive breast cancers are classified as hormone receptor positive, or ER+/PR+. Compounds that regulate ER or PR expression, oppose the production of estrogen in the body (i.e., aromatase inhibitors) or inhibit estrogen binding to estrogen receptors (e.g., tamoxifen) are among those used to treat this type of breast cancer. Tumors with a large number of estrogen receptors are associated with a better prognosis than those with few. Please see our article on ER+/PR+ breast cancer prognosis.

Consumption of a total of at least five vegetables and fruits per day plus regular exercise has been found to be associated with lower risk of recurrence of ER+/PR+ breast cancer. Certain foods and spices have been shown to be especially effective in inhibiting ER+/PR+ cell growth and proliferation and promoting apoptotic cell death. Dietary fiber has also been found to be associated with reduced risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer. On the other hand, some foods and supplements appear to be especially risky for ER+/PR+ breast cancer patients.

Foods and spices that reduce the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer

The foods and spices listed below have either specifically been found to be associated with reduced risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer or contain meaningful amounts of micronutrients that have been found to reduce the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer:

Olive oil and black pepper are included on the list because both have been found to increase the bioavailabilty of beta-carotene from other foods.

Foods and supplements that increase the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer

The following foods and supplements can increase the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer:

Alcohol

Astragalus root

Avlimil

Bacon and other processed meats

Beef

Black tea

Corn oil

Folic acid supplements

Well-done or fried meat or fish

Additional comments

Use of the heart medication digoxin (digitalis) has been shown to increase the risk of ER+ breast cancer.

Hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients and survivors would benefit from eating a wide variety of the foods on our recommended food list and limit or avoid those on our avoid list, in addition to paying particular attention to the foods, spices and supplements on the lists above.

Under the list of tags below are links to recent studies on this topic. For a more complete list of studies, please click on ER+/PR+.

Tags: alcohol, apple, aromataseActivity, aromataseInhibitors, arugula, astragalusRoot, bacon, basil, beef, bellPepper, betaCarotene, blackberry, blackPepper, blackTea, blueberry, bokChoy, boysenberry, broccoli, brusselsSprouts, buckwheat, cabbage, carotenoid, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cherry, chicken, cornOil, cranberry, dryBeans, egg, exercise, fiber, folate, garlic, genistein, grape, greens, herring, hormoneReceptorPositive, hormoneRecPositiveArticle, hotPepper, kale, lakeTrout, lamb, lettuce, lycopene, melatonin, metastasis, mushroom, mustard, oats, olive, parsley, pomegranate, pork, processedMeat, progesterone, proliferation, pumpkin, raspberry, redMeat, reishiMushroom, resveratrol, safflowerOil, saffron, salmon, sardine, seaweed, soybeanOil, soyProteinIsolate, spinach, squash, sunflowerOil, tomato, turmeric, walnut, watercress, watermelon, zucchini

Selected breast cancer studies

Dietary Chemopreventative Benzyl Isothiocyanate Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cells In Vitro and In Vivo Quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate inhibit glucose uptake and metabolism by breast cancer cells by an estrogen receptor-independent mechanism Sulforaphane controls TPA-induced MMP-9 expression through the NF-κB signaling pathway, but not AP-1, in MCF-7 breast cancer cells Pterostilbene, a bioactive component of blueberries, suppresses the generation of breast cancer stem cells within tumor microenvironment and metastasis via modulating NF-κB/microRNA 448 circuit Sulforaphane inhibits growth of phenotypically different breast cancer cells Comparison of Tamoxifen with Edible Seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii L.) Extract in Suppressing Breast Tumor Tetrathiomolybdate-associated copper depletion decreases circulating endothelial progenitor cells in women with breast cancer at high risk of relapse Effects of the activated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway via the c-ros receptor tyrosine kinase on the T47D breast cancer cell line following alcohol exposure Omega-3 PUFA ethanolamines DHEA and EPEA induce autophagy through PPARγ activation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells I3C and ICZ inhibit migration by suppressing the EMT process and FAK expression in breast cancer cells Diallyl Disulfide-Induced Apoptosis in a Breast-Cancer Cell Line (MCF-7) May Be Caused by Inhibition of Histone Deacetylation Effect of Cooking and Germination on Phenolic Composition and Biological Properties of Dark Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Mechanistic Examination of Walnuts in Prevention of Breast Cancer Pomegranate juice and specific components inhibit cell and molecular processes critical for metastasis of breast cancer ERα mediates alcohol-induced deregulation of Pol III genes in breast cancer cells N-3 poly-unsaturated Fatty acids shift estrogen signaling to inhibit human breast cancer cell growth In vitro and in vivo Antimammary Tumor Activities and Mechanisms of the Apple Total Triterpenoids Prediagnostic plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (vitamin B6) levels and invasive breast carcinoma risk: the Multiethnic Cohort Selective Inhibition of Cell Proliferation by Lycopene in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells In vitro: A Proteomic Analysis Quantifying mediating effects of endogenous estrogen and insulin in the relation between obesity, alcohol consumption and breast cancer Inhibition of estrogen-mediated mammary tumorigenesis by blueberry and black raspberry < Previous Top Next >

Food for Breast Cancer

What should hormone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) breast cancer patients and survivors eat?

Foods and spices that reduce the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer

Foods and supplements that increase the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer

Additional comments

Selected breast cancer studies