High fat diets 'increase risk of breast cancer'

British researchers have found women who eat too much fat greatly increase their risk of breast cancer.

A British study showed that women who ate more than 90 grams of fat daily were twice as likely to develop the disease as those who ate less than 40 grams.

The discovery emerged after the diet of more than 13,000 British women taking part in a major cancer investigation was closely watched.

Previous studies have failed to find a link between breast cancer and high fat intake. But they were less meticulous about tracking diets, relying on participants remembering what they had eaten and filling in questionnaires.

The new research used food diaries which participants completed on a daily basis. With this method, a clear link emerged.

Dr Sheila Bingham, deputy director of the Medical Research Council Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, UK, who led the scientists, said: "Our study shows there is an emerging link between eating too much fatty food and increasing the risk of breast cancer.

"The effect seems to be related particularly to saturated fat found mostly in high fat milk, butter, meat and some cereals such as biscuits and cakes.

"We believe that, in the past, finding links between breast cancer and fat intake has been hampered by imprecise research methods which appear to have obscured a link between the two."

The research was published in the Lancet medical journal. It formed part of the much larger European Prospective Investigation of Cancer and Nutrition (Epic) study which recruited 25,630 men and women living in Norfolk, UK.