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Calcium intake and risk of colorectal cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study
Author(s) -
Park Song Yi,
Murphy Suzanne P.,
Wilkens Lynne R.,
Nomura Abraham M. Y.,
Kolonel Laurence N.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.lb85
Subject(s) - medicine , colorectal cancer , relative risk , vitamin d and neurology , calcium , cohort study , cohort , confidence interval , proportional hazards model , population , lower risk , cancer , gastroenterology , endocrinology , physiology , environmental health
Calcium inhibits the growth of colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo , but results from epidemiologic studies in humans are inconsistent. We examined the association between calcium intake and colorectal cancer risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Our study population included 85903 women and 105108 men aged ≥ 45 years who completed a quantitative food frequency and vitamin/mineral supplement questionnaire at baseline in 1993–1996. During an average follow‐up of 7.3 years, 1138 and 972 cases of incident colorectal cancer were identified among men and women, respectively. Multivariate‐adjusted rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Total calcium intake (from foods and supplements, expressed as mg/4.184 MJ/day) was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk both in men (RR=0.66, 95% CI=0.49–0.91, highest vs. lowest quintile, p for trend=0.003) and women (RR=0.64, 95% CI=0.49–0.84, p for trend=0.003). The inverse association was also seen for calcium intake from foods in mg/4.184 MJ/day (RR=0.71, 95% CI=0.55–0.92, p for trend=0.008) and supplements (RR=0.77, 95% CI=0.62–0.95 for >200 mg/day vs. none), separately, in men. In women, there was a significant inverse association for supplemental calcium (RR=0.81, 95% CI=0.67–0.98 for >200 mg/day vs. none), but not for calcium from foods (RR=0.87, 95% CI=0.68–1.13, p for trend=0.48). Our findings support the possibility of a protective effect of calcium intake against colorectal cancer. This research was supported in part by Grant R37 CA54281 from the National Institutes of Health.