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Dairy products, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D, and risk of prostate cancer (Sweden)

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Abstract

Objectives: Dairy products consistently have been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, yet the mechanism of this relationship remains unknown. Recent hypotheses propose that 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25 D) is protective for prostate cancer. One study in the United States found that calcium consumption, which can lower circulating 1,25 D, was associated with higher risk of advanced prostate cancer, and we sought to address this hypothesis in a distinct population.

Methods: We analyzed data from a population-based case- control study of prostate cancer conducted in Örebro, Sweden, with 526 cases and 536 controls. Using unconditional logistic regression models, we examined the relationship of dairy products, dietary calcium, phosphorous, and vitamin D with risk of total, extraprostatic, and metastatic prostate cancer.

Results: Calcium intake was an independent predictor of prostate cancer (relative risk (RR)=1.91, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.23-2.97 for intake ≥1183 vs. <825mg/day), especially for metastatic tumors (RR=2.64, 95 percent CI 1.24-5.61), controlling for age, family history of prostate cancer, smoking, and total energy and phosphorous intakes. High consumption of dairy products was associated with a 50 percent increased risk of prostate cancer.

Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that high calcium intake may increase risk of prostate cancer, and this relation may underlie previously observed associations between dairy products and prostate cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    June M. Chan & Hans-Olov Adami

  2. Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward Giovannucci

  3. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward Giovannucci

  4. Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Swen-Olof Andersson, Hans-Olov Adami & Alicja Wolk

  5. Department of Urology, Örebro Medical Center, Örebro, Sweden

    Swen-Olof Andersson

  6. Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jonathan Yuen

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  1. June M. Chan
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  4. Jonathan Yuen
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  5. Hans-Olov Adami
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  6. Alicja Wolk
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Chan, J.M., Giovannucci, E., Andersson, SO. et al. Dairy products, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D, and risk of prostate cancer (Sweden). Cancer Causes Control 9, 559–566 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008823601897

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