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Causes Of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death among women. Several studies have suggested a link between dairy products or milk and ovarian cancer. The fact that Sweden has one of the highest rates of ovarian cancer in the world and that the Swedish population consumes a variety of dairy products led Swedish researchers to investigate the relationship between cow's milk and ovarian cancer. They studied more than 60,000 women for an average of 13.5 years. During that time, 266 women developed ovarian cancer. Women who consumed four or more daily servings of dairy products had twice the risk of developing one type of ovarian cancer compared to women who consumed less than two servings. Milk was the dairy product with the strongest association with ovarian cancer. Again, twice the risk was seen in women drinking two or more glasses of cow's milk a day compared to women who seldom or never drank cow's milk. Lactose, the naturally occurring sugar found in milk, was also associated with risk; each 10-gram per day increase in lactose (equivalent to about one glass of cow's milk) was associated with a 20 percent greater risk of one type of ovarian cancer. Some researchers have speculated that galactose, a component of lactose, might be the culprit in dairy products. Soymilk does not contain lactose or galactose and is certainly a simple alternative to cow's milk.

Larsson SC, Bergkvist L, Wolk A. 2004. Milk and lactose intakes and ovarian cancer risk in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Am J Clin Nutr 80:1353-7.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Vegetarian Resource Group
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group