HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Related articles in AJCN Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Larsson, S. C Articles by Wolk, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Larsson, S. C Articles by Wolk, A. Agricola Articles by Larsson, S. C Articles by Wolk, A.

Calcium and dairy food intakes are inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk in the Cohort of Swedish Men ^1,2,3

¹ From the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (SCL and AW); the Department of Surgery and Centre for Clinical Research, Central Hospital, Västerås, Sweden (LB); the Section of Colorectal Surgery, the Department of Surgery, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden (JR); the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (EG); and the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (EG)

Background: Recent epidemiologic studies have generally reported a modest inverse association between calcium intake and the risk of colorectal cancer. However, findings pertaining to specific subsites in the colorectum have been conflicting.

Objective: Our objective was to prospectively examine the relations between intakes of calcium and dairy foods and the risk of colorectal cancer, overall and by anatomic subsite, in men from the Cohort of Swedish Men.

Design: In 1997, 45 306 men aged 45–79 y and without a history of cancer completed a food-frequency questionnaire. The men were followed through 31 December 2004.

Results: During a mean follow-up of 6.7 y, we ascertained 449 incident cases of colorectal cancer. After adjustment for age and other known or potential risk factors, the multivariate rate ratio (RR) of colorectal cancer for men in the highest quartile of total calcium intake compared with those in the lowest quartile was 0.68 (95% CI: 0.51, 0.91; P for trend = 0.01). A high consumption of dairy foods was also associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer. The multivariate RR of colorectal cancer for 7 servings/d of total dairy foods compared with <2 servings/d was 0.46 (0.30, 0.71; P for trend = 0.01). For cancer subsites, the corresponding RRs were 0.37 (0.16, 0.88) for proximal colon, 0.43 (0.20, 0.93) for distal colon, and 0.48 (0.23, 0.99) for rectum.

Conclusion: Our findings provide support for inverse associations between intakes of calcium and dairy foods and the risk of colorectal cancer.

Key Words: Colorectal neoplasms • cohort studies • calcium • dairy products • prospective studies

Related articles in AJCN:

Dairy consumption and the prevention of colon cancer: is there more to the story than calcium?

James C Fleet
AJCN 2006 83: 527-528. [Full Text]  

Continuing Medical Education

AJCN 2006 83: 728-729. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. C van der Pols, C. Bain, D. Gunnell, G. Davey Smith, C. Frobisher, and R. M Martin Childhood dairy intake and adult cancer risk: 65-y follow-up of the Boyd Orr cohort Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, December 1, 2007; 86(6): 1722 - 1729. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.-Y. Park, S. P. Murphy, L. R. Wilkens, A. M. Y. Nomura, B. E. Henderson, and L. N. Kolonel Calcium and Vitamin D Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: The Multiethnic Cohort Study Am. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2007; 165(7): 784 - 793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]