Vitamin and Calcium Supplements may reduce
Breast Cancer Risk
Newswise — Vitamins and calcium supplements appear to
reduce the risk of breast cancer, according
to findings presented at the American
Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual
Meeting 2010.
“It is not an immediate effect. You don’t take a vitamin
today and your breast cancer risk is reduced
tomorrow,” said Jaime Matta, Ph.D.,
professor in the Ponce School of Medicine in
Puerto Rico. “However, we did see a
long-term effect in terms of breast cancer
reduction.”
Matta said the findings suggest that the calcium
supplements are acting to enhance DNA repair
capacity, a complex biological process
involving more than 200 proteins that, if
disrupted, can lead to cancer.
“This process involves at least five separate pathways and
is critical for maintaining genomic
stability,” said Matta. “When the DNA is not
repaired, it leads to mutation that leads to
cancer.”
The study included 268 women with breast cancer and 457
healthy controls. Women were more likely to
have breast cancer if they were older, had a
family history of breast cancer, had no
history of breastfeeding and had lower DNA
repair capacity.
Vitamin supplements appeared to reduce the risk of breast
cancer by about 30 percent. Calcium
supplements reduced the risk of breast
cancer by 40 percent. After controlling for
the level of DNA repair capacity, calcium
supplements were no longer as protective,
but the link between vitamin supplements and
breast cancer reduction remained.
“We’re not talking about mega doses of these vitamins and
calcium supplements, so this is definitely
one way to reduce risk,” said Matta.
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The mission of the American Association for
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