Below is an abridged version of the news item. To read the whole thing,
go to http://tinyurl.com/96z43

A study carried out at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and
published in this month's [May, 2005] American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition set out to examine the link between prostate cancer and
consumption of dairy products, calcium and vitamin D.

Dietary calcium was seen to be strongly associated with an increased
risk of prostate cancer, with the highest consuming tertile having a RR
of 2.2 compared with the least consuming tertile, and a 95% CI of 3.5
compared with 1.4.

Previous evidence indicating a reduced risk of colorectal cancer with
higher calcium consumption includes a study published in Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention (vol 14, pp126-132) in January,
which showed that women who consumed in excess of 800mg of calcium each
day could cut their risk of developing colorectal cancer by up to 46
percent. Deriving calcium from both diet and supplements was seen to
double the risk reduction observed when it came from either source
alone.

The Fox Chase scientists are not the first to draw attention to the
seemingly duplicitous relationship between calcium and cancer. A body
of evidence on the subject, which their results bolster, led them to
conclude that "the mechanisms by which dairy and calcium might
increase prostate cancer risk should be clarified and confirmed."