Consumption of modern and traditional Moroccan dairy products and colorectal cancer risk: a large case control study

Purpose The main objective of this study is to describe the association between the consumption of either traditional or modern dairy products or calcium intakes and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the adult Moroccan population. Methods A case-control study was conducted in five Moroccan hospital centers. The study was matched on sex, age (+/- 5 years) and center. Data were collected using validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) taking into account different types of Moroccan dairy products. Conditional logistic regression models were used to assess the association between dairy products consumption, calcium intakes and CRC risk subtypes. In all statistical tests, the significance level was set at 0.05. Results Among 1453 cases and 1453 matched controls, 50.7% were women and 49.3% were men. Milk ORb 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96 and yogurt ORb 0.74, 95% CI 0.64-0.86 were inversely associated with CRC risk. Similar inverse associations were observed for traditional dairy products namely Lben ORb 0.77, 95% CI 0.67-0.88, Raib ORb 0.86, 95% CI 0.76-0.96 and Jben ORb 0.77, 95% CI 0.67-0.88. The dairy calcium intake was inversely associated to CRC overall ORb 0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.93. Conclusions Our study supports previous international evidence and suggests that individuals who have a high intake of either modern or traditional dairy products are at lower risk for CRC. These findings should be further confirmed by longitudinal data and studies investigating potential pathways involved.