Lively Women

Calcium Deficiency May Be Linked to Breast Cancer Metastasis to Bone

by Kristen King on October 3rd, 2007

According to a recent report, women who consume more calcium may be less likely to have their breast cancer spread to their bones. Yet another reason to make sure you’re eating a balanced diet and supplementing with a multi-vitamin! Think milk, cheese, yogurt, broccoli… There are lots of options to up your calcium intake.

A strong skeleton is less likely to be penetrated by metastasizing cancer cells, so a fortified glass of milk might be the way to block cancer’s spread, according to researchers at the ANZAC Research Institute in Concord, Australia.

Using a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis, the researchers found that a calcium deficiency may increase the tendency of advanced breast cancer to target bone. Dietary calcium, they reason, might help prevent the spread of breast cancer to bone and serve as an adjuvant treatment during therapy.

According to the researchers, about 70 percent of patients who develop advanced breast cancer will have secondary tumors in the bone. The spread of cancer to bones leads to cellular processes that physically break down existing bone, leading to further pain and illness. In fact, the breakdown of bone and subsequent bone re-growth forms what senior author Colin R. Dunstan, Ph.D., terms a “vicious cycle” that turns bone into an environment conducive to cancer growth. Read more.

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POSTED IN: Cancer, Diet, Dietary supplement, Health, Nutrition, Prevention, Women's Issues