Calcium Intake May Protect Against Cancer

February 26, 2009 — Calcium intake may protect against cancer, particularly gastrointestinal tract cancer, according to the results of a prospective study reported in the February 23 issue of theArchives of Internal Medicine.

"Dairy food and calcium intakes have been hypothesized to play roles that differ among individual cancer sites, but the evidence has been limited and inconsistent," write Yikyung Park, ScD, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues. "Moreover, their effect on cancer in total is unclear."

Dairy food and calcium intakes were inversely associated with cancers of the digestive system in both men and women. Multivariate relative risk for the highest quintile of total calcium vs the lowest was 0.84 in men (95% CI, 0.77 - 0.92) and 0.77 in women (95% CI, 0.69 - 0.91). This reduction in the risk for gastrointestinal tract cancer was especially prominent for colorectal cancer, and supplemental calcium intake was also inversely associated with the risk for colorectal cancer.

"Our study suggests that calcium intake is associated with a lower risk of total cancer and cancers of the digestive system, especially colorectal cancer," the study authors write.