A new study funded by the National Cancer Institute indicates that women who follow a low-fat diet have a lower chance of a recurrence of breast cancer than women who follow a normal diet.

The study examined 2,437 women at 37 different locations around the United States who had just completed standard treatment for early breast cancer after surgery. The treatment included chemotherapy and hormones as well as standard medications.

One group of the breast cancer survivors was put on a low-fat diet averaging 33.3 grams of fat per day while the second group averaged 51.3 grams per day. The study found that those who followed the low fat diet had a 24 percent lower risk for a return of their cancer.

The results were not universally accepted as many experts felt there was another significant factor at play. Those women whose tumors were not helped to grow by estrogen were the only ones who benefited significantly from the low fat diet according to the statistics released by the study.

As a result, Doctor Len Lichtenfeld, the Deputy Medical Director of the National Cancer Institute concluded that low fat diet 'is not something that can be taken generally' from this study's results.

In addition, the subjects on the low-fat diets ate more fruits and vegetables which are considered foods that can lower the risk of breast cancer as can exercise. These other factors may have contributed to the reduction in relapses seen by the study.

Breast cancer continues to be a major problem in the United States. It is now the most frequent non-skin cancer in American women. Approximately 213,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and nearly 41,000 women die each year from the disease.