title: Lactose and galactose intake and metabolism in relation to the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: It has been suggested that aspects of lactose consumption and metabolism favoring a relatively high tissue level of galactose-1-phosphate may predispose women to ovarian cancer. The authors sought to examine this hypothesis in a study of 108 18- to 74-year-old Caucasian residents of a three-county area of western Washington who were diagnosed with stage I ovarian cancer during 1989-1991, and 108 age- and race-matched controls. Lactose and galactose intake, measured using a food frequency questionnaire, had been hypothesized to increase risk, but were somewhat lower among the cases than among the controls (75th percentile of lactose intake vs. 25th: odds ratio (OR) = 0.80, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.52-1.2; of galactose intake: OR = 0.71, 95% Cl 0.48-1.1). Intestinal lactase activity, also hypothesized to have a positive relation with ovarian cancer occurrence, was measured with an oral lactose challenge followed by determination of urinary galactose; no evidence that it was related to the disease was found (75th percentile of excreted galactose vs. 25th: OR = 0.87, 95% Cl 0.62-1.2). Galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (transferase), the enzyme responsible for the metabolism of galactose-1-phosphate, was measured in erythrocytes; no deficit in cases was observed (75th percentile of transferase activity vs. 25th: OR = 1.3, 95% Cl 0.80-2.1). There was also no excess of cases carrying low-activity genetic variants of the transferase enzyme (lower-activity variants vs. higher-activity variants: OR = 0.61, 95% Cl 0.21-1.7). These results do not support the hypothesis that aspects of lactose and galactose intake and metabolism have a bearing on the etiology of ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Herrinton
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Beresford
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stanford
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wolfla
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D005690:Galactose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000201:enzymology; D043322:Lactase; D007785:Lactose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D005694:UTP-Hexose-1-Phosphate Uridylyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D014861:Washington; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D005694:UTP-Hexose-1-Phosphate Uridylyltransferase; D043322:Lactase; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D007785:Lactose; D005690:Galactose