A new study has failed to find a clear-cut connection between dietary fat and breast cancer. But researchers and commentators cautioned that it was too early to rule out a link.

In the study, being published Wednesday in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers analyzed the body fat of 380 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, and compared the findings with a similar fat analysis of 176 women with benign breast disease and 397 women without any breast disease.

Since the constituents of body fat represent dietary habits going back at least two years, the analysis is believed to reflect people’s dietary habits more accurately than just asking them what they eat.

The researchers, from Los Angeles and Boston, checked the body fat samples for levels of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans and omega-3 fatty acids. Laboratory studies have suggested that intakes of saturated, polyunsaturated and trans fatty acids, formed during the processing of polyunsaturated fatty acids, may promote cancer, while omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in fish, may be protective.

The researchers also examined the women’s blood and diet for levels of antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin E and beta-carotene, which are thought to protect against cancer.

The team, headed by Dr. Stephanie J. London, now at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, found no statistically significant relationship between any of the fat constituents or levels of antioxidants and the women’s chances of having breast cancer or benign breast disease.