Document Type

Article

Subject Area(s)

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Abstract

Vitamin D has been associated with decreased risk of several cancers. In experimental studies, vitamin D has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and induce differentiation and apoptosis in normal and malignant breast cells. Using a population-based case-control study on Long Island, New York, we examined the association of breast cancer with plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels, a measure of vitamin D body stores. In-person interviews and blood specimens were obtained from 1,026 incident breast cancer cases diagnosed in 1996 to 1997 and 1,075 population-based controls. Plasma 25-OHD was measured in batched, archived specimens by Diasorin RIA. The mean (SD) plasma 25-OHD concentration was 27.1 (13.0) and 29.7(15.1) ng/mL in the cases and controls, respectively (P < 0.0001). Plasma 25-OHD was inversely associated with breast cancer risk in a concentration-dependent fashion (Ptrend=0.002). Compared with women with vitamin D deficiency (25-OHD, <20 ng/mL), levels above 40 ng/mL were associated with decreased breast cancer risk (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.78). The reduction in risk was greater among postmenopausal women (odds ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.83), and the effect did not vary according to tumor hormone receptor status. In summary, these results add to a growing body of evidence that adequate vitamin D stores may prevent breast cancer development. Whereas circulating 25-OHD levels >32 ng/mL are associated with normal bone mineral metabolism, our data suggest that the optimal level for breast cancer prevention is ≥40 ng/mL. Well-designed clinical trials are urgently needed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation is effective for breast cancer chemoprevention.

Rights

Crew, K. D., Gammon, M. D., Steck, S. E., Hershamn, D. L., Cremers, S., Dworakowski, E., ... Santella, R. M. (2009). Association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and breast cancer risk. Cancer Prevention Research, 2(6), 598-604.

DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0138

© Cancer Prevention Research, 2009, American Association for Cancer Research

http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/2/6/598.full

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