Vitamin D linked to improved breast cancer survival rates

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/...east-cancer-survival-rates/?intcmp=latestnews



Vitamin D linked to improved breast cancer survival rates
Published March 07, 2014
FoxNews.com

Breast cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood may be more likely to survive the disease compared to women lacking the nutrient, a new study reports.

For a study published in Anticancer Research, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed vitamin D levels in a group of 4,443 breast cancer patients involved in five separate studies. Each study followed the women involved for an average of nine years.

Overall, researchers found that women with high levels of vitamin D were twice as likely to survive their disease compared to women with low levels of the vitamin in their blood...

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Vitamin D linked to improved breast cancer survival rates

Meta-analysis of Vitamin D Sufficiency for Improving Survival of Patients with Breast Cancer
SHARIF B. MOHR1⇑, EDWARD D. GORHAM1,2, JUNE KIM1, HEATHER HOFFLICH2 and CEDRIC F. GARLAND1,2
+ Author Affiliations

1Scientific Programs Office, Code 01A, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
2Department of Family and Preventive Medicine 0620, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, U.S.A.
Correspondence to: Sharif Mohr, Scientific Programs Office, Code 01A, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92106, U.S.A. Tel: +1 6197562161, e-mail: sbmohr75@gmail.com
Abstract

Background/Aim: To determine whether higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at diagnosis is associated with longer survival of patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A meta-analysis was performed of five studies of the relationship between 25(OH)D and mortality from breast cancer. A pooled hazard ratio was calculated using a random-effects model. The Der Simonian-Laird test was used to assess homogeneity. Results: Higher serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were associated with lower case-fatality rates after diagnosis of breast cancer. Specifically, patients in the highest quintile of 25(OH)D had approximately half the death rate from breast cancer as those in the lowest.

Conclusion: High serum 25(OH)D was associated with lower mortality from breast cancer.

Serum 25(OH)D in all patients with breast cancer should be restored to the normal range (30-80 ng/ml), with appropriate monitoring. Clinical or field studies should be initiated to confirm that this association was not due to reverse causation.

http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/34/3/1163.abstract

 

[mixin]

Re: Vitamin D linked to improved breast cancer survival rates

Here is a snip from the news release from UC San Diego Health System.

News Release
Date: March 06, 2014
Vitamin D Increases Breast Cancer Patient Survival

?Vitamin D metabolites increase communication between cells by switching on a protein that blocks aggressive cell division,? said Garland. ?As long as vitamin D receptors are present tumor growth is prevented and kept from expanding its blood supply. Vitamin D receptors are not lost until a tumor is very advanced. This is the reason for better survival in patients whose vitamin D blood levels are high.?

http://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2014-03-06-vitamin-D-and-breast-cancer-survival.aspx

 

[Emily]

Re: Vitamin D linked to improved breast cancer survival rates

That's great news that a mechanism has been identified. Low vitamin D levels during disease states have been found in a lot of studies, but they usually have to leave the door open for depletion caused by the disease process itself, or lifestyle changes caused by disease. (Not getting outside as much.) Having a disease-fighting mechanism favors keeping vitamin D adequate as a preventative, IMO.