X-Message-Number: 29641
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 19:58:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: 
Subject: vitamin D/calcium reduces cancer risk by 77%

[A most impressive result.]

Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91.
Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a
randomized trial.
    Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney
RP. Osteoporosis Research Center, Creighton University, Omaha, NE.
    BACKGROUND: Numerous observational studies have found supplemental
calcium and vitamin D to be associated with reduced risk of common
cancers. However, interventional studies to test this effect are
lacking. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this analysis was to determine the
efficacy of calcium alone and calcium plus vitamin D in reducing incident
cancer risk of all types. DESIGN: This was a 4-y, population-based,
double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. The primary outcome
was fracture incidence, and the principal secondary outcome was cancer
incidence. The subjects were 1179 community-dwelling women randomly
selected from the population of healthy postmenopausal women aged >55 y
in a 9-county rural area of Nebraska centered at latitude 41.4 degrees
N. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 1400-1500 mg supplemental
calcium/d alone (Ca-only), supplemental calcium plus 1100 IU vitamin
D(3)/d (Ca + D), or placebo. RESULTS: When analyzed by intention to
treat, cancer incidence was lower in the Ca + D women than in the placebo
control subjects (P < 0.03). With the use of logistic regression, the
unadjusted relative risks (RR) of incident cancer in the Ca + D and
Ca-only groups were 0.402 (P = 0.01) and 0.532 (P = 0.06),
respectively. When analysis was confined to cancers diagnosed after the
first 12 mo, RR for the Ca + D group fell to 0.232 (CI: 0.09, 0.60; P <
0.005) but did not change significantly for the Ca-only group. In
multiple logistic regression models, both treatment and serum
25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were significant, independent
predictors of cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: Improving calcium and vitamin D
nutritional status substantially reduces all-cancer risk in
postmenopausal women. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov
as NCT00352170.
PMID: 17556697

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29641