The review synthesises observational studies of ultra-processed food consumption, food additives and related exposures in relation to breast cancer incidence, subtype and survivorship, alongside proposed mechanisms including metabolic dysregulation, endocrine disruption and microbiome change. It reports a consistent direction of association but heterogeneity across populations, tumour subtypes and specific ultra-processed food subgroups, and gives no pooled effect estimate. The authors flag early-onset breast cancer and life-course exposure as the main gap.
Why it is interesting: It sets out where the ultra-processed food and breast cancer literature stands, but adds no new estimate and rests on exposure measures the authors themselves call inadequate.