The National Institutes of Health published the following study in June 2007
on its website http://www.pubmed.org

1: Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91                                    .Click here to Order Full Text

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 [PubMed - in process]

The National Institutes of Health published the following study in January 2005
on its website http://www.pubmed.org
1: JAMA. 2005 Jan 5;293(1):86-9.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
JAMA. 2005 Jun 1;293(21):2599; author reply 2599.

Magnesium intake in relation to risk of colorectal cancer in women.

Larsson SC, Bergkvist L, Wolk A.

Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, The National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

CONTEXT: Animal studies have suggested that dietary magnesium may play a role in the prevention of colorectal cancer, but data in humans are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that a high magnesium intake reduces the risk of colorectal cancer in women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Swedish Mammography Cohort, a population-based prospective cohort of 61,433 women aged 40 to 75 years without previous diagnosis of cancer at baseline from 1987 to 1990. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incident invasive colorectal cancer. RESULTS: During a mean of 14.8 years (911 042 person-years) of follow-up, 805 incident colorectal cancer cases were diagnosed. After adjustment for potential confounders, we observed an inverse association of magnesium intake with the risk of colorectal cancer (P for trend = .006). Compared with women in the lowest quintile of magnesium intake, the multivariate rate ratio (RR) was 0.59 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-0.87) for those in the highest quintile. The inverse association was observed for both colon (RR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.41-1.07) and rectal cancer (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.22-0.89). CONCLUSION: This population-based prospective study suggests that a high magnesium intake may reduce the occurrence of colorectal cancer in women.

PMID: 15632340 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


DISCUSSION

It's amazing that just 1400-1500mg of calcium and 1100 International Units of Vitamin D3 were able to reduce risk for all types of cancer by up to 77%, and magnesium reduced colorectal cancer by 41%.  The RR above means Relative Risk, so the Calcium plus Vitamin D3 group had only 23% the risk for all-types of cancer when compared to the placebo control group (or, in other words, a 77% lower risk) after the first year (most patients who developed cancer the first year likely already had undiagnosed cases coming into the study).  Adequate magnesium intake is rare in the Standard American Diet (SAD), so supplementation is necessary.  While these studies involved only women over age 55, there is little reason to believe that this would not benefit both men and women of all ages.  There are many other nutritional studies which show promise, as well.

While physicians continue to prescribe drugs like Tamoxifen, which reduces breast cancer risk by 48% (as it increases the risk of deadly uterine cancer), studies like this one go virtually unnoticed by the mainstream press!  If a medication were developed by Big Pharma that was HALF as effective (and safe) as these nutrients, it would be heralded in every paper in America and be broadcast regularly on the evening news yet, as this was written, we are unaware of any media coverage on these breakthroughs.  (Of course, doctors aren't told about the benefits and efficacy of non-patentable vitamins and minerals by their pharmaceutical reps!)

Will you help us to get the word out?  A Grassroots effort to get this information to the public could result in saving well over 100,000 Americans' lives each year from this devastating disease, not to mention many billions in healthcare costs.   We urge you to forward the email that sent you here today to your families, personal contact lists, and to your local newspapers, television and radio stations.  Also be sure to print out this page to share with your doctor. 

Working together, we WILL make a difference!

G. L. Schmidt, O.D.

To read more studies on nutrition and cancer, click here









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