Vitamin D Might Enhance Survival Rate in Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer is the one of the very frequent type of cancer in women, irrespective of ethnic background or race. Earlier study has recommended that vitamin D may have a beneficial effect in anticancer treatment, and a recent research correlates breast cancer survival rates with levels of vitamin D.

Investigators have earlier recommended that vitamin D might be advantageous in treating cancer.

Some researches have recommended that the active metabolite of vitamin D – well-known as calcitriol – may be anti-cancerous. Providing calcitriol in mice has been found to stop the spreading and growth of cancer cells, decrease tumor blood vessel formation, and activate cell death.

Even though there are not yet sufficient clinical studies in humans to confirm this, some clinical and animal research suggest that avoiding vitamin D deficiency and consuming vitamin D supplements could be a less expensive and safe way to avoid cancer and enhance prognosis in sufferers previously diagnosed with the condition.

Connecting vitamin D with breast cancer survival rates

A new research led by Dr. Song Yao, examined data from 1,666 women diagnosed with breast cancer.

The sufferers had taken part in the Pathways Study, a cohort study of breast cancer survivors set up in 2006 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Investigators investigated levels of the vitamin D biomarker 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) at the time of the diagnosis, and connected them with survival prognosis.

As part of the Pathways Study follow up, sufferers were examined for comorbidities and entire health at frequent intervals: 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 months.

The investigators examined the data for more than a year, from January 5, 2014, to March 15, 2015, and the outcomes were presented in the journal JAMA Oncology.

The average age of the sufferers monitored was 58.7 years. Over all, 50 % of the sufferers were vitamin D deficient, and more than a third had inadequate levels of vitamin D.

Investigators identified a reduced level of the vitamin D biomarker in women with advanced-stage tumors. The lowest levels were identified in premenopausal women with triple-negative cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer is a kind of cancer that exams negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER2 protein.

Levels of 25OHD were also inversely proportional to condition progression and death rates.

Reduced levels of 25OHD were connected with greater tumor stage and grade, and women with the highest levels of 25OHD had greater survival rates overall.

Levels of 25OHD also enhanced proportionally with vitamin D dietary and supplemental consumption.

Commenting on their research author said,

“Our results offer compelling observational proof for inverse associations among vitamin D levels and possibility of breast cancer progression and death.”

Further study required to establish causality

The authors caution against the probability that vitamin D associations are indicative of a more general aspect of one’s health, instead of being particular to breast cancer sufferers.

They also warn that 25OHD concentrations differ with environmental and physiological modifications. However, authors have adjusted their study to account for these modifications, along with for chemotherapy and other types of treatment that might have impacted vitamin D levels