By Jimmy Downs

Friday Nov 30, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer should not drink cows' whole milk, which has high levels of milk fat, a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention suggests.

The study led by A. Pettersson from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts and colleagues found men with the highest intake of whole milk were more than 100 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with those in the lowest intake.

Drinking milk has been associated with risk of developing prostate cancer.  But it remains unknown how milk and dairy consumption would affect risk of metastases and prostate cancer death in men with prostate cancer, according to the authors. The current study was intended to examine the association among participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

In the study cohort, 3,918 men were diagnosed with apparently localized prostate cancer during the period from 1986 through 2006 and were followed until 2008.  Participants reported milk and dairy intake by completing questionnaires repeatedly.   During the follow-up.  229 men died from prostate cancer  and an additional 69 suffered metastases.

A multivariate analysis shows that total milk and dairy intakes after diagnosis were not correlated with a higher risk of lethal prostate cancer, metastases or prostate cancer death. 

However, men in the highest quintile of whole milk intake were 2.15 times as likely as those in the lowest quintile of whole milk intake to experience disease progression.

And those who ate the highest amounts of low-fat fairy products were found 38 percent less likely to to have progression.

The researchers concluded "With the exception of whole milk, our results suggest that milk and dairy intake after a prostate cancer diagnosis is not associated with an increased risk of lethal prostate cancer."

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer may use a low calorie plant based diet to get the disease under control, according to previous studies.  Dairy products with low fat still have high levels of protein, which can promote growth of both normal and abnormal cells.

Prostate cancer is a common maligancy found in men.  The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2012, 241,740 American men will be diagnosed with this disease, which will kill about 28,000 in the U.S. in 2012.