Maria V. Grau, M.D., of the Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, N.H., and her colleagues examined data on 803 people who participated in the Calcium Polyp Prevention Study, a randomized trial that showed a protective effect of calcium supplementation for preventing the recurrence of colorectal cancer. The new study found that calcium supplements reduced the risk of recurrence only among individuals with baseline vitamin D levels above the median (29.1 ng/mL). Similarly, serum vitamin D levels were associated with reduced adenoma recurrence only among individuals taking calcium supplements.

These findings "provide a strong indication that vitamin D and calcium have a joint antineoplastic effect in the large bowel," the authors write, but they add that "further investigation is needed to understand the mechanistic basis of the vitamin D/calcium interaction and to clarify the amount of intake of each nutrient required for optimum protective effect."

Contact: Andy Nordhoff, Dartmouth Medical School, 603-650-1492, dms.communications@dartmouth.edu.

Regular Aspirin Use Associated with Reduced Risk of Stomach Cancer
Regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, is associated with a reduced risk of a specific type of gastric (stomach) cancer, according to a review of past studies.

Gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Benjamin Chun-Yu Wong, M.D., of the University of Hong Kong, Queens Mary Hospital, and his colleagues reviewed data from nine studies, which included 2,831 patients with gastric cancer, and found that long-term use of aspirin or nonasp
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Contact: Katherine Arnold
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
2-Dec-2003