High-fat dairy food and conjugated linoleic acid intakes in relation to colorectal cancer incidence in the Swedish Mammography Cohort

BACKGROUND: High-fat dairy foods contain many potentially anticarcinogenic factors, including conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). However, few epidemiologic studies have specifically evaluated high-fat dairy food consumption, and none have evaluated CLA intake, in relation to colorectal cancer risk. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the associations of long-term high-fat dairy food consumption and CLA intake and the incidence of colorectal cancer. DESIGN: Our study population consisted of 60 708 women aged 40-76 y who participated in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. The women's consumption of high-fat dairy foods was assessed at baseline, which was from 1987 to 1990, and again in 1997. RESULTS: We ascertained 798 incident cases of colorectal cancer during an average 14.8 y of follow-up. After adjustment for age and other potential confounders, the women who consumed [>/=]4 servings of high-fat dairy foods/d (including whole milk, full-fat cultured milk, cheese, cream, sour cream, and butter) had a multivariate rate ratio of colorectal cancer of 0.59 (95% CI: 0.44, 0.79; P for trend = 0.002) when compared with the women who consumed