'Calcium and Vitamin D cut breast cancer risk by more than a third'

JENNY HOPE, "'Calcium and Vitamin D cut breast cancer risk by more
than a third'", Daily Mail, May 29, 2007,
Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1774

Young women can cut their risk of breast cancer by more than a third
by eating more calcium and vitamin D, claim researchers.

Foods rich in the nutrients - including milk, oily fish and green
vegetables - could be the latest weapon in the fight against the
disease.

A US study of more than 30,000 women found those eating high levels of
calcium and vitamin D were up to 40 per cent less likely to develop
breast cancer before the menopause.

The protection was "more pronounced" for aggressive tumours, says the
study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

But the preventive effect was not found in women developing breast
cancer after the menopause, which occurs around the age of 50.

In the UK about 8,000 women - one in five of the annual total
diagnosed with the disease - get premenopausal breast cancer each
year.

The latest study adds to increasing evidence that vitamin D may play
an important role in preventing breast cancer - particularly when
combined with calcium - and possibly other cancers.

Researchers led by Jennifer Hsiang-Ling Lin at Brigham and Women's
Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, assessed the diets of
more than 10,000 premenopausal and 21,000 postmenopausal women.

When the study started in the early 1990s, the women completed a
questionnaire about their medical history and lifestyle and a food
frequency questionnaire which detailed how often they consumed certain
foods, beverages and supplements.

The women completed regular questionnaires over the following 10 years
to say whether they had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Altogether 276 premenopausal women and 743 postmenopausal women
developed the disease.

Among premenopausal women, those in the group with highest intake of
calcium - more than 1,300 milligrams a day - had a 40 per cent lower
risk of disease.

Those in the group with highest vitamin D intake - around 550
international units (IU) a day - had a 35 per cent lower risk compared
with women eating the least amount of the nutrient.

The link was found to be strongest for faster growing tumours - which
tend to be more often diagnosed in younger women.

"The likely apparent protection in premenopausal women may be more
pronounced for more aggressive breast tumours" says the study.

It did not find any change in risk conferred by eating the nutrients
in women after the menopause.

The study included food and supplements as sources of calcium and
vitamin D, but did not look at sun exposure.

Vitamin D is found in salmon, tuna and other oily fish, and is
routinely added to milk, but diet accounts for very little of the
nutrient that actually makes it into the bloodstream, with most coming
from sun exposure.

In the UK, the Food Standards Agency does not recommend a specific
daily dose unless you are elderly, pregnant, Asian, get little sun
exposure and eat no meat or oily fish when 10micrograms (or the US
equivalent of 400IU) is advised.

It says daily supplements of 25 mcg are unlikely to cause harm. Good
sources of calcium include milk, yoghurt, green vegetables, wholemeal
bread and nuts.

British adults are recommended to consume at least 700mg a day - half
the level advised in the US.

Dr Hsiang-Ling Lin said interaction between the nutrients appears to
have an anti-carcinogenic effect on breast cancer cells.

She said: "Our findings suggest that premenopausal women consuming
higher levels of calcium and vitamin D had a lower risk of breast
cancer compared with those who had low intakes of both nutrients.

"I would recommend women, especially premenopausal women, have
adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D to keep up their overall
health, and additionally, to potentially reduce risk for developing
breast cancer."

Breast cancer charities in the UK last night called for more research.

Helen Graham, Breast Health Specialist at Breast Cancer Care said "It
has been suggested before that Vitamin D and Calcium may help to
protect against breast cancer.

"However, whilst this is an interesting piece of research it does not
offer any further insight or explanation into exactly how they may do
this.

"More research is needed, especially those that specifically examine
the potential role of Vitamin D and Calcium may play in the
development of breast cancer."