Men with elevated levels of calcium in their blood may have a much higher risk of getting fatal prostate cancer, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
The findings indicate that a simple blood test may identify men at high risk for the most dangerous prostate tumors, and there already are drugs available that cut calcium levels in the bloodstream, the researchers said.
They tracked 2,814 men in a government health survey in which they gave blood samples that revealed calcium levels.
The men in the top third of blood calcium levels had 2.68 times the risk of developing fatal prostate cancer later in life compared to those in the bottom third, the study found.
"If serum calcium really does increase your risk for fatal prostate cancer, that's wonderfully exciting because serum calcium levels can be changed," Gary Schwartz of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, who helped lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
"One way to think of it is to think of the tremendous advances in the control of cardiovascular disease that occur from understanding that things like serum cholesterol predict heart attack," Schwartz added.
According to the American Association for Cancer Research's journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, people treated for high blood calcium usually have chronic kidney disease, which is associated with low vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D levels elevate parathyroid hormone levels, Schwartz said.
Halcyon Skinner of the University of Wisconsin, who also worked on the study, said there is little relationship between calcium in the diet and blood calcium levels, so these men would not benefit from eating less food rich in calcium.
Bonnie - I still think that malabsorbed calcium via supplementation or other means can create calcification in areas such as the prostate. I would not close the book on this being a contributor.
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