By Ernie Mundell and Robert Preidt
HealthDay reporter
THURSDAY, June 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Breast cancer patients who have adequate vitamin D levels – the “sunshine vitamin” – at the time of their diagnosis have better long-term results, finds a new study.
Combined with the results of previous research, the new results suggest “continued benefit for patients who maintain adequate levels”. [of vitamin D] through and beyond breast cancer treatment, “said lead study author Song Yao, a professor of oncology in the Cancer Prevention and Control Division at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY
The study also found that black women had the lowest levels of vitamin D, which could explain their generally poorer results after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Yao’s group said.
The results were presented at the recent annual virtual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
An oncologist unrelated to the research said the results could provide women with an easy new way to fight breast cancer.
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Vitamin D “is found in some foods and is made when sunlight hits human skin,” said Dr. Alice Police, a breast cancer researcher at Northwell Health’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health in Westchester, NY
“This could be an opportunity for important intervention in breast cancer outcomes for all women, but especially for the black population,” she said.
Almost 4,000 patients took part in the study, whose vitamin D levels were checked and monitored for a median of almost 10 years.
The patients were divided into three grades: vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 nanograms per milliliter in blood tests); insufficient (20 to 29 ng / ml); or sufficient (30 or more ng / ml).
The study was not designed to prove cause and effect. However, it found that women with adequate vitamin D levels were 27% less likely to die from any cause and 22% less likely to die from any cause, and 22% less likely during the 10-year follow-up, compared to women who were deficient in vitamin D dying of breast cancer specifically.
The team also found that the association between vitamin D levels and breast cancer outcomes was similar regardless of the tumor’s estrogen receptor (ER) status. The association appeared to be somewhat stronger in patients with lower weight and patients with more advanced breast cancer.
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“Our results from this large cohort of long-follow-up breast cancer survivors provide the strongest evidence yet of maintaining adequate vitamin D levels in breast cancer patients, especially black women and patients with advanced disease,” said Yao. said in a Roswell Park press release.
Dr. Paul Baron is the chief physician of breast surgery and director of the breast cancer program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He was not involved in the new research, but called it “an important study because it shows the importance of adequate vitamin D levels in improving the long-term survival of breast cancer patients.”
For their part, police said the results highlight the importance of getting enough vitamin D for women.
The difference in results between black and white breast cancer patients “narrowed with higher levels of vitamin D at diagnosis,” she noted. “This could be an important step in creating the conditions for this disease: let the sun in!”
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Since these results were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered tentative pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about breast cancer.
SOURCES: Alice Police, MD, breast cancer researcher, Katz Institute for Women’s Health of Northwell Health, Westchester, NY; Paul L. Baron, MD, director of breast surgery, director of breast cancer program, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, press release, June 4, 2021
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