"Many men with this diagnosis are treated unnecessarily," Schwartz said. "Within months of initial diagnosis of prostate cancer, many men opt to undergo either radiation or radical surgery. The problem is, we don't know who needs to be treated and who doesn't, so we treat most men, over-treating the majority. These new findings, if confirmed, suggest that men in the lower end of the normal distribution of ionized serum calcium are three times less likely than men in the upper distribution to develop fatal disease.

"These men may choose to delay treatment or perhaps defer it altogether," Schwartz added. "It also suggests that medicine may be able to help in lowering the risk of fatal prostate cancer by reducing serum calcium levels."


Schwartz added that much of the ongoing research into the development of prostate cancer is focused on identifying characteristics of aggressive tumors, whereas this research is focused on identifying characteristics of the men who will develop the tumors before they actually develop.

He cautioned that calcium in serum is little influenced by calcium in the diet. Serum calcium levels are controlled genetically and are stable over much of an individual's life, he said.

"These results do not imply that men need to quit drinking milk or avoid calcium in their diets," Schwartz added.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.





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