New research supports the theory that folic acid supplements given during pregnancy and lactation can decrease the rate of colon cancer in offspring when they reach adulthood, according to a study in Gut.
Young-in Kim, MD, a gastroenterologist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada, found that folic acid supplements given to pregnant and breast-feeding rats reduced the rate of colon cancer in their offspring by 64 percent.
However, a previous study by Dr. Kim found daughters of rats who were given folic acid supplements before conception, during pregnancy and while breast-feeding had breast cancer rates twice as high as other rats who were not given the supplements.
Attempting to explain the variance, Dr. Kim said folic acid may have very different effects on development of cancers in different organs, because each organ may have its own needs for folate or may metabolize it differently.
Read the Gut study on colon cancer.
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