Abstract
In a case-control study, consumption of dairy foods by 235 white women with epithelial ovarian cancer and by 239 control women, and activity of red blood cell galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase (transferase) in a subset of 145 cases and 127 controls were determined. Yogurt was consumed at least monthly by 49% of cases and 36% of controls. The mean transferase activity of cases was significantly lower than that of controls. When a ratio of lactose consumption to transferase (L/T) was calculated, cases had a mean L/T of 1·17 compared with 0·98 for controls; there was a highly significant trend for increasing ovarian cancer risk with increasing L/T ratio. Lactose consumption may be a dietary risk factor and transferase a genetic risk factor for ovarian cancer.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 66-71 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | The Lancet |
Volume | 334 |
Issue number | 8654 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 8 1989 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Ms Leslie Fortier, Ms Dawn Harvey, Ms Judy Geller, and Ms Emily Lublin is gratefully acknowledged. This study was supported by grant R01 CA 42008 from the National Cancer Institute.