A dairy-rich diet could help extend the lives of patients who have been diagnosed with colon cancer; but some researchers are skeptical of the findings.
A recent study found colon cancer patients who ate the most dairy tended to live longer and had a lower risk of dying from any cause, a HealthDay news release reported.
"If you are a colorectal cancer patient, calcium and milk consumption may improve your survival. But do not change your diet just yet before more research is conducted," lead researcher Peter Campbell, who's with the American Cancer Society's epidemiology research program, said told HealthDay.
The new study showed an association between dairy and longevity in colon cancer patients, but did not prove it was the direct cause.
"If our findings are replicated in future studies, we may see changes in dietary guidelines for cancer survivors: patients might be encouraged to increase calcium and milk intake," Campbell said.
To make their findings the researchers looked at 2,300 patients who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer between the years of 1992 and 2009. By 2010 949 of the patients had died, 408 directly from their cancer. The team found that those who got more calcium live slightly longer, although the finding was only "marginally statistically significant." They also found those who drank milk had a 28 percent lower chance of dying from any cause.
Doctor Donald Abrams, an integrative oncologist at the University of California, doesn't trust that the study's findings are sound.
"It's silly to look at milk in isolation, because [according to the study] the people who drank the most milk also were the leanest, did the most physical exercise, ate less red meat, and ate more fruits and vegetables," Abrams told HealthDay. "The message is it's the whole diet, not a single component."
