Abstract
The relationship between intake of dairy products and risk of breast cancer was studied in 4697 initially cancer-free women, aged 15 years or over. During a 25 year follow-up period after the collection of food consumption data, 88 breast cancers were diagnosed. Intakes of foods were calculated from dietary history interviews covering the habitual diet of examinees over the preceding year. There was a significant inverse gradient between milk intake and incidence of breast cancer, the age-adjusted relative risk of breast cancer being 0.42 (95% confidence interval=0.24-0.74) between the highest and lowest tertiles of milk consumption. The associations with respect to other dairy products were not significant. Adjustment for potential confounding factors, i.e. smoking, body mass index, number of childbirths, occupation and geographic area, resulted in only a minor change in the milk intake-breast cancer relation. Nor did adjustment for intake of other foodstuffs and nutrients, e.g. energy, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and trace elements, alter the results. No significant interactions between milk intake and demographic or dietary variables or time of cancer diagnosis were observed. Our data suggest that there is a protective effect, dietary or habitual, associated with consumption of milk that overwhelms the associations between different other factors and risk of breast cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knekt, P., Järvinen, R., Seppänen, R. et al. Intake of dairy products and the risk of breast cancer. Br J Cancer 73, 687–691 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.119
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.119
This article is cited by
-
Consumption of dairy products and odds of breast cancer: an Iranian case–control study
Breast Cancer (2022)
-
The relationship between dairy products intake and breast cancer incidence: a meta-analysis of observational studies
BMC Cancer (2021)
-
Dietary CLA Combined with Palm Oil or Ovine Fat Differentially Influences Fatty Acid Deposition in Tissues of Obese Zucker Rats
Lipids (2012)
-
Dairy consumption and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (2011)
-
A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef
Nutrition Journal (2010)