Vitamin D And Calcium Do Not Keep Colon Cancer Away, Study

While earlier studies showed that taking more vitamin D and calcium tablets can prevent colon cancer from recurring, a new study shows that vitamin D and calcium "do not stop the growth of colon polyps", according to Health Day.

"It suggests that you should not think you should take calcium or vitamin D to reduce your risk of colon cancer," said study co-author Elizabeth Barry, assistant professor of epidemiology and community and family medicine at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine.

The number two cancer killer in the U.S is colon cancer. With increasing age, there is greater risk for colorectal cancer. With 90 percent of people affected with colon cancer are seen to be more than 50 years, studies show that the risk for colorectal cancer can be reduced with low-fat, high-fiber diet, exercise and staying away from alcohol, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Examining 2,259 patients who had undergone complete colonoscopy and removed their colorectal polyps, scientists expected to follow up on the colonoscopy within three to five years.

Scientists divided the participants into groups. Everyday, one of them took vitamin D, another consumed calcium carbonate, while yet another ingested vitamin D plus calcium carbonate. Only one control group was not asked to take anything.

In the follow-up colonoscopy, about 43 percent was discovered having "one or more adenomas". In comparison to the placebo group, those that consumed vitamin D and calcium, or both, did not exhibit a reduced "risk for recurring polyps".

Dr. John Baron, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, who was the lead study author of the study, expressed surprise that calcium, which does not permit cancer, did not work on the growth of colon polyps.

"Daily supplementation with vitamin D3 (1000 IU), calcium (1200 mg), or both after removal of colorectal adenomas did not significantly reduce the risk of recurrent colorectal adenomas over a period of 3 to 5 years," the researchers wrote.

The study was published in the Oct. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.