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Last Updated: Dec 27th, 2006 - 19:07:47 |
How a diet full of calcium and vitamin D affects the risk of colon cancer is the question researchers at Montefiore Medical Center want to answer.
Days after news was released that a Women’s Health Initiative study disproved the association between calcium and vitamin D supplements and the risk of colorectal cancer, scientists at Montefiore launched a clinical trial to determine how elevated levels of vitamin D and calcium alter complex genetic and molecular events in the colon to help protect against cancer.
Len Augenlicht, PhD, director of the Molecular Oncology Program and professor at the Center said “Dietary factors are an extremely important area of study because at least 75 percent of colon cancer is "sporadic", meaning it can't be traced to any inherited genetic patterns,"
"We know through our own laboratory work that a Western diet - high in fat and phosphate, low in calcium and vitamin D - accelerates the formation of colon cancer in mice, and we believe that data, applies directly to humans," Dr. Augenlicht said.
The clinical trial, unlike the WHI study, will involve 20 patients who are at risk for developing cancer because of a medical history of benign tumors, known as colon adenomas. Also the use of calcium and vitamin D will be more closely monitored in the study than in the WHI study in which a large percentage of subjects actually did not stick to the supplementation regimen, making the results uncertain.
In the WHI study, statistical analysis indicates no association between the supplements and colorectal cancer risk. But critics said the reason for the negative results is that the dose was too small and duration of the study is too short (seven years). Colorectal cancer could take decades to develop.
In the Montefiore study, the patients’ diets will be modified to include precise amounts of vitamin D and calcium. In one month, colon samples will be collected twice to analyze the pattern of expression of about 30,000 genes as well as the molecular pathways altered by the diet.
It is well known that diets affect gene expression. Montefiore’s colon cancer research program is designated as a National Cancer Institute Center for the $4.2 million study of nutrient-gene interaction in the disease.
Calcium, vitamin D supplements vs. bone fractures, colorectal cancer
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