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Vitamin and calcium supplements reduced breast cancer risk
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Vitamins and calcium supplements decreased the risk for breast cancer via regulation of the DNA repair capacity, according to study findings.
“We’re not talking about megadoses of these vitamins and calcium supplements, so this is definitely one way to reduce risk,” Jaime Matta, PhD, professor in the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico, said in a press release.
Matta and colleagues examined the relationship between DNA repair capacity and breast cancer risk involving vitamin and calcium supplement consumption. They enrolled 268 Puerto Rican women with breast cancer and 457 without breast cancer. Risk factors for disease included older age, family history of breast cancer, no history of breast-feeding and lower DNA repair capacity.
Vitamin supplements reduced breast cancer risk by about 30%, and calcium supplements reduced risk by about 40%, according to the researchers. Calcium supplements were no longer significantly protective after controlling for the level of DNA repair capacity; however, vitamins remained a protective factor.
The effect of vitamins and calcium supplements is not immediate though, according to Matta.
“You don’t take a vitamin today and your breast cancer risk is reduced tomorrow,” she said. “However, we did see a long-term effect in terms of breast cancer reduction.”
For more information:
- Vergne Y. #976. Presented at: AACR 101st Annual Meeting; April 17-21; Washington, D.C.