A new survey says most men are unaware that dairy products may be linked with prostate cancer risk. But the headline behind that finding is more certain than the science itself.
The survey, commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and conducted by Morning Consult, found that just 20% of 1,102 U.S. men knew about a possible connection between dairy consumption and prostate cancer. After being told about the association, 66% said they would be likely to avoid dairy.
But the survey did not study whether dairy causes prostate cancer. And major cancer organizations describe the evidence more cautiously than the group behind the poll.
The American Cancer Society says men who consume a lot of dairy products may have a slightly higher chance of developing prostate cancer, while emphasizing that the exact role of diet remains unclear. The World Cancer Research Fund similarly describes the evidence linking dairy products with prostate cancer as limited but suggestive.
That distinction matters because most of the evidence comes from observational studies. Researchers can track what people eat and see who later develops prostate cancer, but those studies cannot prove that dairy itself caused the difference in risk.
One of the larger recent reviews pooled results from 33 prospective cohort studies. It found small increases in prostate cancer risk as consumption of total dairy, milk, cheese and butter rose. For example, each additional 200 grams of milk per day was associated with about a 2% increase in relative risk. The researchers also warned that differences in prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, screening could have influenced some of the results.
Other studies have found stronger associations.
In the Adventist Health Study-2, researchers followed men with widely varying dairy intakes and found that those consuming about 430 grams of dairy per day had a 27% higher relative risk of prostate cancer than those consuming about 20 grams per day. Because this was also an observational study, it cannot establish that dairy was responsible for the higher risk.
Earlier evidence has not always pointed in the same direction. A previous meta-analysis found no clear association between dairy or milk intake and prostate cancer overall. Differences in populations, dietary measurements, prostate cancer screening and the types of dairy examined have made the relationship difficult to pin down.
Calcium may be part of the discussion as well. Some research has associated higher calcium intake with greater prostate cancer risk, although the American Cancer Society notes that most studies have not found an increased risk at the levels of calcium typically consumed in an average diet. Calcium also plays important roles in bone and other aspects of health.
That is one reason cancer organizations have stopped short of recommending that men eliminate dairy.
The World Cancer Research Fund says dairy probably protects against colorectal cancer, while the evidence suggesting increased prostate cancer risk is not strong enough to support a general recommendation about dairy intake.
The American Cancer Society takes a similar approach. Rather than advising men to avoid milk, yogurt or cheese specifically, it recommends an overall healthy eating pattern with plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting red and processed meats, sugary drinks and highly processed foods. It also advises against consuming excessive amounts of calcium.
The new survey came from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an organization that promotes plant-based diets. That perspective is important context because the group framed the poll around dairy as a prostate cancer risk and recommended plant-based eating as an alternative.
There is research supporting greater consumption of plant foods, but it does not establish that everyone needs to follow a completely vegan diet to reduce prostate cancer risk.
A prospective study of more than 26,000 men in the Adventist Health Study-2 found that those following vegan diets had a 35% lower relative risk of prostate cancer than nonvegetarians. But vegan participants may differ from nonvegetarians in many ways beyond dairy intake, and observational studies cannot isolate one aspect of the diet as the cause.
Research among men already diagnosed with prostate cancer has also found promising associations. In a 2024 study of 2,062 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, those who ate the most plant foods had a 47% lower relative risk of disease progression than those who ate the least. The study examined overall dietary patterns, however, not whether eliminating dairy was responsible for the difference.
A more recent systematic review found that healthier dietary patterns, including Mediterranean and plant-rich approaches, may be associated with better outcomes after prostate cancer diagnosis. But researchers said inconsistencies and risk of bias in the available studies prevent firm conclusions.
So where does that leave someone wondering whether to stop drinking milk?
The evidence suggests that very high dairy or calcium intake may deserve attention, and the possible relationship with prostate cancer is legitimate enough that researchers continue to study it. But current evidence does not show that consuming dairy causes prostate cancer, nor do major cancer organizations recommend that men eliminate dairy as a prevention strategy.
The bigger dietary picture remains more certain than any single food. Maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active and eating an overall pattern rich in plant foods are among the approaches most consistently recommended for long-term health.
The new survey therefore highlights a real research question, but “men don't know dairy increases prostate cancer risk” goes further than the evidence allows. A more accurate message is that some studies suggest a modest association, while important uncertainty remains about whether dairy itself is responsible and how much intake might matter.
The survey was conducted by Morning Consult for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization that advocates for plant-based diets. The survey itself was not a peer-reviewed study of prostate cancer risk.
The research discussed in this article comes from multiple independent studies and evidence reviews with varying sources of funding.