Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00003787 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : June 3, 2004
Last Update Posted : June 10, 2019
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RATIONALE: Dietary fats, fruits, vegetables, and fiber may affect the risk of breast cancer recurrence.
PURPOSE: Randomized clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and fiber and low in fat in women who have been treated for stage I, stage II, or stage III breast cancer.
Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Breast Cancer | Behavioral: educational/counseling intervention Behavioral: therapeutic dietary intervention |
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and fiber and low in fat is associated with a longer breast cancer event-free interval in breast cancer survivors. II. Motivate an intervention group of breast cancer survivors to adopt and maintain a dietary pattern that is rich in vegetables, fruit, and fiber and low in fat. III. Demonstrate that the intervention can produce significant changes in circulating carotenoid and estrogen biomarkers compared to a healthy control diet. IV. Test whether the probability of a secondary cancer event is associated with change in self-reported dietary intake, circulating carotenoid concentrations, and circulating estrogen concentrations.
OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to age (under 55 vs 55 and over at time of diagnosis), stage of tumor (stage I and at least 1 cm vs stage II/IIIA), and clinical site. Patients are randomized to one of two healthy dietary regimens: Arm I: Patients are taught to follow a dietary pattern that will produce significant changes in circulating carotenoid and estrogen biomarkers. Arm II: Patients are assigned to follow dietary guidelines established by the National Cancer Institute and the USDA. All patients participate in 24 hour dietary recalls, cooking classes, as well as complete several questionnaires, at baseline and then at 12, 24 or 36, 48, and 72 months; a randomly selected 50% sample participate in recall at 6 months. Patients are followed by telephone every 6 months for an average of 6 years.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 3,000 women will be accrued for this study within 5 years.
Study Type : | Observational |
Actual Enrollment : | 3088 participants |
Observational Model: | Case-Control |
Time Perspective: | Prospective |
Official Title: | Dietary Intervention in Women Who Have Been Treated For Stage I, Stage II, or Stage III Breast Cancer: Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study |
Study Start Date : | March 1995 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | March 2007 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | December 31, 2018 |

Group/Cohort | Intervention/treatment |
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Intervention
high fiber, high vegetable, low-fat diet
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Behavioral: educational/counseling intervention Behavioral: therapeutic dietary intervention |
Control
NCI-recommended diet
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Behavioral: therapeutic dietary intervention |
- Breast Cancer Recurrence [ Time Frame: Lifetime ]
- Mortality [ Time Frame: Lifetime ]
Biospecimen Retention: Samples With DNA

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 70 Years (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | Female |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Sampling Method: | Non-Probability Sample |
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Primary operable stage I (tumors at least 1 cm), stage II, and stage IIIA invasive breast carcinoma Treatment within the past 4 years by total mastectomy and axillary dissection, or breast sparing surgical removal of cancer with clear macroscopic margins and axillary dissection followed by adjuvant breast radiation No evidence of recurrent disease or new breast cancer since completion of initial local treatment confirmed within the past 6 months by physician evaluation, except stage I mastectomy, for which physician evaluation can be within 1 year prior to randomization Hormone receptor status: Not specified
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 to 70 at time of diagnosis Sex: Female Menopausal status: Not specified Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: At least 10 years (excluding breast cancer) Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: No cirrhosis Renal: Not specified Other: Not pregnant Accessible geographically and by telephone Able to communicate dietary data via 24-hour food recall Able to commit to the intervention schedule No comorbidity requiring a specific diet or taking a medication which contraindicates consuming a high fiber diet (e.g., systemic scleroderma, other digestive malabsorption syndromes, and insulin dependent diabetes) No other primary or recurrent invasive cancer within the past 10 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: No concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: No concurrent estrogen replacement therapy, including vaginal estrogen creams Radiotherapy: See Disease Characteristics Surgery: See Disease Characteristics Other: No concurrent enrollment in another clinical trial that has dietary restrictions or endpoints similar to this study

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00003787
United States, Arizona | |
Arizona Cancer Center | |
Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85724 | |
United States, California | |
University of California San Diego Cancer Center | |
La Jolla, California, United States, 92093-0658 | |
Permanente Medical Group (060) | |
Oakland, California, United States, 94611-5400 | |
University of California Davis School of Medicine | |
Sacramento, California, United States, 95616 | |
Northern California Cancer Center | |
Union City, California, United States, 94587 | |
United States, Oregon | |
Center for Health Research - Portland | |
Portland, Oregon, United States, 97227-1110 | |
United States, Texas | |
University of Texas - MD Anderson Cancer Center | |
Houston, Texas, United States, 77030 |
Study Chair: | John P. Pierce, PhD | University of California, San Diego |
Publications of Results:
Other Publications:
Responsible Party: | John P. Pierce, Professor, University of California, San Diego |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00003787 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
UCSD-980919 CDR0000066920 ( Registry Identifier: PDQ (Physician Data Query) ) UCSD-WHEL NCI-G99-1508 |
First Posted: | June 3, 2004 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | June 10, 2019 |
Last Verified: | June 2019 |
stage I breast cancer stage II breast cancer stage IIIA breast cancer recurrent breast cancer |
Breast Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site Neoplasms Breast Diseases Skin Diseases |