Can colon cancer incidence and death rates be reduced with calcium and vitamin D?
It was proposed in 1980 that vitamin D and calcium could reduce the risk of colon cancer. This assertion was based on the decreasing gradient of mortality rates from north to south, suggesting a mechanism related to a favorable influence of ultraviolet-induced vitamin D metabolites on metabolism of calcium. A 19-y prospective study of 1954 Chicago men found that a dietary intake of greater than 3.75 micrograms vitamin D/d was associated with a 50% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer, whereas an intake of greater than or equal to 1200 mg Ca/d was associated with a 75% reduction. Clinical and laboratory studies further support these findings. A nested case-control study based on serum drawn from a cohort of 25,620 individuals reported that moderately elevated concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, in the range 65-100 nmol/L, were associated with large reductions (P less than 0.05) in the incidence of colorectal cancer.
Garland
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Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0607.
Garland
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Gorham
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D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D014807:Vitamin D