Calcium’s Effects on Colorectal Adenomas Have Staying Power

LEBANON, N.H.—Follow up from two calcium intervention studies indicates the protective effect of calcium supplementation in subjects with a previous colorectal adenoma may last longer than originally anticipated (J Natl Cancer Inst, 99, 2:129-36, 2007). In a study coordinated out of Dartmouth Medical School, researchers obtained follow-up information for 822 of 930 subjects who participated in the original studies (1988 to 1992, 1,200 mg/d of elemental calcium); 597 of the subjects had undergone at least one colonoscopy after the end of study treatment. During the five years after randomized treatment ended, subjects in the calcium group had a 37-percent lower risk of any adenoma compared to those in the placebo group; there was also a smaller, though not significant, reduced risk of advance adenomas. There was no effect seen during the subsequent five years.

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