Dairy consumption and ovarian cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer

Abstract

Ovary cancer risk in relation to consumption of dairy products was investigated using a self-administered questionnaire on dietary habits and other risk factors for cancer, which was completed in 1986 by 62 573 postmenopausal women participating in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Follow-up for cancer was implemented by annual record linkage with the Netherlands Cancer Registry and a nationwide pathology registry. After 11.3 years of follow-up, data of 252 incident epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 2216 subcohort members were available for analysis. No association was seen between consumption of milk, yoghurt, cheese or fermented dairy products and ovarian cancer risk. The multivariable adjusted relative risk of epithelial ovarian cancer for women in the highest compared to the lowest quintile of intake of lactose or dairy fat was 0.93 (95% confidence interval (CI) ¼ 0.60 -1.45; P trend ¼ 0.32) and 1.53 (95% CI ¼ 1.00 -2.36; P trend ¼ 0.11), respectively. Lactose or dairy fat intakes were not associated with serous ovarian cancer risk. Our results do not support an association between consumption of dairy products or lactose intake and ovarian cancer.

Nutritional Factors in Ovarian Cancer Prevention: What Have We Learned in the Past 5 Years?

“…It should be noted that in the Nurses' Health Study (65) and the Swedish Mammography Cohort (66), lactose consumption was associated with increased risk of serous ovarian cancer, but not with other subtypes, suggesting that future studies should consider histologic type when evaluating this association. In contrast, a report from the Netherlands Cohort Study of Diet and Cancer (67) reported no association with any dairy products or lactose and epithelial ovarian cancer or the serous subtype. Furthermore, there was no indication of an association with milk/dairy product or calcium consumption in a recent study pooling data from 12 cohort studies (68) and only a weak association with lactose intake at a level equivalent to 3 or more glasses of milk per day (RR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.01-1.40 comparing ≥30 g/day vs. <10 g/day).…”

Dietary Intake and Ovarian Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review

“…The European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) and the Swedish Mammography Study specifically evaluated the relationship between red meat intake and ovarian cancer risk and found no significant association (12),(31). Alternately, four studies evaluated dairy intake (a source of animal fat) in relation to risk; three found no significant association (12),(20),(32) while the study by Larsson et al, showed a 60% greater risk for invasive ovarian cancer in relation to dairy intake (33) an association that seemed to be largely attributed to milk and cheese, but not yogurt intake. The increased risk associated with dairy and specifically lactose intake was shown in the Nurses’ Health Study cohort, but risk was limited to the subgroup of women diagnosed with a serous tumor subtype, accounting for a 2-fold higher risk (RR 2.07, 95% CI, 1.27–3.40) (34).…”

Molecular mechanisms triggered by low-calcium diets

“…An association between ovarian cancer risk and a high whole milk intake, but not low-fat dairy product intake, suggested that fat, and not galactose, was the component that increases the cancer risk (133) . Contrarily, a cohort study on diet and cancer carried out in The Netherlands (134) did not find an association between dairy products or lactose intake and ovarian cancer risk. A modest increase in the risk of ovarian cancer with lactose intake at the level of three or more glasses of milk per d was observed in a pooled analysis of twelve cohort studies (135) .…”