Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the 13,270 breast cancer (BC) cases in the EPIC cohort according to the adherence to Mediterranean diet as measured by the adapted relative Mediterranean diet (arMED) score
All BC cases (N = 13,270) | Adherence measured by the arMED score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Low (N = 3427) | Medium (N = 5162) | High (N = 4681) | ||
Age at diagnosis, mean (SD) | 61 (8.8) | 63 (8.8) | 61 (8.5) | 60 (8.9) |
Educational level | ||||
None/primary | 3281 (24.7) | 998 (29.1) | 1049 (20.3) | 1234 (26.4) |
Technical/professional | 3035 (22.9) | 1148 (33.5) | 1242 (24.1) | 645 (13.8) |
Secondary | 3200 (24.1) | 622 (18.1) | 1317 (25.5) | 1261 (26.9) |
Longer education | 3143 (23.7) | 588 (17.2) | 1294 (25.1) | 1261 (26.9) |
Smoking status | ||||
Never | 5940 (44.8) | 1465 (42.7) | 2276 (44.1) | 2199 (47) |
Former | 3139 (23.7) | 806 (23.5) | 1233 (23.9) | 1100 (23.5) |
Current | 2476 (18.7) | 895 (26.1) | 936 (18.1) | 645 (13.8) |
Miscellaneous | 1487 (11.2) | 236 (6.9) | 605 (11.7) | 646 (13.8) |
Alcohol consumption | ||||
Non drinker | 1774 (13.4) | 422 (12.3) | 598 (11.6) | 754 (16.1) |
> 0–3 g/day | 3820 (28.8) | 990 (28.9) | 1455 (28.2) | 1375 (29.4) |
> 3–12 g/day | 4066 (30.6) | 1035 (30.2) | 1641 (31.8) | 1390 (29.7) |
> 12–24 g/day | 2069 (15.6) | 523 (15.3) | 801 (15.5) | 745 (15.9) |
> 24 g/day | 1541 (11.6) | 457 (13.3) | 667 (12.9) | 417 (8.9) |
Body mass index (BMI) | ||||
Normal weight | 7612 (57.4) | 1834 (53.5) | 3058 (59.2) | 2720 (58.1) |
Overweight | 3943 (29.7) | 1105 (32.2) | 1473 (28.5) | 1365 (29.2) |
Obesity | 1509 (11.4) | 440 (12.8) | 556 (10.8) | 513 (11) |
Underweight | 206 (1.6) | 48 (1.4) | 75 (1.5) | 83 (1.8) |
Physical activity | ||||
Inactive | 2673 (20.1) | 583 (17) | 891 (17.3) | 1199 (25.6) |
Moderately inactive | 4720 (35.6) | 1200 (35) | 1820 (35.3) | 1700 (36.3) |
Moderately active | 3606 (27.2) | 867 (25.3) | 1555 (30.1) | 1184 (25.3) |
Active | 2076 (15.6) | 709 (20.7) | 809 (15.7) | 558 (11.9) |
Menopausal status at diagnosis | ||||
Premenopausal | 3070 (23.1) | 613 (17.9) | 1152 (22.3) | 1305 (27.9) |
Postmenopausal | 10,200 (76.9) | 2814 (82.1) | 4010 (77.7) | 3376 (72.1) |
Ever use of hormones for menopause | ||||
No | 7487 (56.4) | 1785 (52.1) | 2805 (54.3) | 2897 (61.9) |
Yes | 5323 (40.1) | 1434 (41.8) | 2166 (42) | 1723 (36.8) |
Unknown | 460 (3.5) | 208 (6.1) | 191 (3.7) | 61 (1.3) |
Grade of tumor differentiation | ||||
Well differentiated | 1298 (9.8) | 269 (7.8) | 547 (10.6) | 482 (10.3) |
Moderately differentiated | 2917 (22) | 603 (17.6) | 1176 (22.8) | 1138 (24.3) |
Undifferentiated or poorly diff | 2503 (18.9) | 462 (13.5) | 982 (19) | 1059 (22.6) |
Not determined | 6552 (49.4) | 2093 (61.1) | 2457 (47.6) | 2002 (42.8) |
Stage of tumor | ||||
Stage 0/I | 1954 (14.7) | 573 (16.7) | 798 (15.5) | 583 (12.5) |
Stage II | 1593 (12) | 506 (14.8) | 624 (12.1) | 463 (9.9) |
Stage III | 303 (2.3) | 98 (2.9) | 119 (2.3) | 86 (1.8) |
Non-metastatic, unknown stage | 3984 (30) | 773 (22.6) | 1622 (31.4) | 1589 (33.9) |
Stage IV (metastatic) | 1777 (13.4) | 350 (10.2) | 699 (13.5) | 728 (15.6) |
Unknown | 3659 (27.6) | 1127 (32.9) | 1300 (25.2) | 1232 (26.3) |
ER status | ||||
Negative | 1678 (12.6) | 391 (11.4) | 646 (12.5) | 641 (13.7) |
Positive | 7500 (56.5) | 1739 (50.7) | 2968 (57.5) | 2793 (59.7) |
Unknown | 4092 (30.8) | 1297 (37.8) | 1548 (30) | 1247 (26.6) |
PR status | ||||
Negative | 2612 (19.7) | 571 (16.7) | 1029 (19.9) | 1012 (21.6) |
Positive | 5072 (38.2) | 1129 (32.9) | 1983 (38.4) | 1960 (41.9) |
Unknown | 5586 (42.1) | 1727 (50.4) | 2150 (41.7) | 1709 (36.5) |
HER2 status | ||||
Negative | 3587 (27) | 931 (27.2) | 1377 (26.7) | 1279 (27.3) |
Positive | 856 (6.5) | 202 (5.9) | 312 (6) | 342 (7.3) |
Unknown | 8827 (66.5) | 2294 (66.9) | 3473 (67.3) | 3060 (65.4) |