Studies of mice and rats, led by ARS nutritionist Cindy D. Davis at the Grand Forks, North Dakota, Human Nutrition Research Center, add to evidence that a low-copper diet significantly increases risk of colon cancer.
Copper joins selenium, calcium, carotenoids, and fiber as being important for a healthy colon.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States and the fourth worldwide. And copper-deficient colon cells showed enzyme abnormalities that have been reported in precancerous lesions in both humans and rats. Davis also looked for a copper connection in mice with a genetic predisposition to develop intestinal tumors. Since the mouse mutation is similar to one found in some human families, these animals make a good model for testing the effects of dietary changes. Not surprisingly, the mice fed the copper-deficient diet had significantly more and bigger tumors than the animals fed adequate copper.