Women drink two or more glasses of milk every day, or who have high amounts of older dairy products in their diet, appear to have a somewhat higher risk of one type of ovarian cancer, new research reports. After following more than 60,000 women for an average of 13.5 years, Swedish researchers found that those who drank at least two glasses of milk every day or consumed at least four daily servings of dairy products were twice as likely to develop serous epithelial ovarian cancer as those who consumed less than two servings of dairy a day. However, only 266 women developed ovarian cancer during the study period, making the risk of ovarian cancer - regardless of women’s dairy preferences - very small. Nevertheless, this study “provides evidence that high intakes of lactose and dairy products, especially milk, may increase the risk of serous ovarian cancer,” the researchers write. Serous epithelial cancer is a type of ovarian cancer that originates from the cells lining the outer surface of the ovary. Most cases of ovarian cancer originate from these cells.
