Consumption of dairy products and cancer risks.

BACKGROUND

Relationships between consumption of dairy products and death from various types of cancer are largely unknown.

METHODS

Between April 1992 and July 1995, a baseline survey was conducted for 11,349 residents in 12 communities in Japan, which included collection of demographic data and a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire inquiring about three dairy products: milk, butter and yogurt. The subjects were followed prospectively until 2002. Causes of death were identified using death certificates. Hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each dairy product were calculated using Cox's proportional hazard models.

RESULTS

Among eight common cancers, only deaths from hematopoietic neoplasm (n=14) were significantly associated with consumption of butter (HR=5.11, 95% CI: 1.40-18.62), though they exhibited a nearly-significant association with milk consumption (HR=3.17, 95% CI: 0.99-10.17), independent of age and sex. Consumption of milk and butter was significantly associated with non-lymphoma deaths (n=9) when adjusted for age and sex (HR=9.86, 95% CI: 1.23-79.19 for milk; and HR=10.04, 95% CI: 2.39-42.18 for butter).

CONCLUSION

The frequencies of butter consumption, and probably that of milk, were correlated with death from hematopoietic neoplasm, particularly from non-lymphomas.