Vitamin D Levels Linked to Breast-Cancer Prognosis

[Guest guest]

> Vitamin D Levels Linked to Breast-Cancer Prognosis

>

>

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080515/vitaminD_cancer_080\

515/20080515?hub=TopStories

> <alerts@...> Reprinted from the ctv.ca website.

> May 15 2008

>

> Women who are vitamin D deficient when they are diagnosed with breast cancer

> are more likely to have their disease spread and are more likely to die than

> women who have adequate vitamin D levels, new Canadian research says.

>

> The study found that women who were vitamin D deficient were 94 per cent

> more likely to have their cancer metastasize (spread) and 73 per cent more

> likely to die.

>

> The research was led by Dr. Pamela Goodwin, a breast cancer researcher at

> Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. The study analyzed blood samples and disease

> outcome from more than 500 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1989 and

> 1995. Women were followed up for an average of 11 years.

>

> The study found that when they were diagnosed with breast cancer:

> -only 24 per cent of subjects had sufficient levels of vitamin D (defined

> as more than 72 nanomoles per litre).

> -more then 37 per cent were considered to be vitamin D deficient (defined

> as less than 50 nanomoles per litre).

> -The research showed that women who were deficient in vitamin D were

> more likely to have aggressive forms of breast cancer.

> The study also found that 69 per cent of women deficient in vitamin D had

> their disease metastasize, while 74 per cent were still alive 10 years later.

>

> Yet among those with adequate vitamin D levels, 83 per cent of women did not

> have their cancer spread and 85 per cent were still alive after 10 years.

>

> Dr. Reinhold Veith of Mount Sinai Hospital, said that vitamin D is a crucial

> part of normal cell function. " Vitamin D is a basic that cells need to

> function properly. If you take that away they don't behave properly and are at

> greater risk of becoming cancerous. "

>

> Previous studies have linked low levels of vitamin D with an increased risk

> of developing breast cancer. Because breast cancer tumours have vitamin D

> receptors, the vitamin can slow the growth rate of cancer cells and make them

> less aggressive, the researchers said.

>

> Time to test your Vitamin D levels? Goodwin said that it is too early to

> tell all women with breast cancer to increase their vitamin D intake. However,

> women may want to have their blood levels of vitamin D measured and, if they

> are low, supplement to bring them up to the acceptable level of 72 nanomoles

> per litre.

>

> However, if her findings are confirmed in a second study, the next step will

> be to test how raising vitamin D levels in breast cancer patients might

> affect their prognosis.

>

> " I think it would be very worthwhile to see if improving those vitamin D

> levels will lead to improved breast cancer outcomes, " Goodwin said.

>

> " Can we really reduce the risk of recurrence in half by increasing vitamin D

> levels into the clinically adequate range? That would be very interesting

> question and a very important question to answer. "

>

> People get most of their vitamin D from sunlight. After being exposed to the

> sun, the skin produces vitamin D, which is then converted to its active form

> by the kidney. Vitamin D is also easy to get from nutritional supplements.

>

> Daily recommendations for vitamin D intake vary, but the average

> recommendation is 1,000 international units (IU). Every 1,000 IU of vitamin D

translates

> to a 25 nanomole per litre increase of vitamin D in the blood.

>

> Carole Baggerly is one breast cancer patient who swears by vitamin D. She

> was diagnosed with breast cancer more than three years ago, and had a

> mastectomy followed by both radiation and chemotherapy.

>

> The 65-year-old San Diego resident had her vitamin D level measured two

> years after her diagnosis, and found it to be very low. Her doctors told her

she

> had osteoporosis, which is also linked to low vitamin D levels.

>

> Baggerly started taking 5,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day

> for her bones and to improve her chances of staying cancer-free.

>

> " To be able to reduce this with nothing more than vitamin D, as opposed to

> having to take some of these very toxic, other drugs, I think is extremely

> exciting and should be very exciting to every woman, " Baggerly said.

>

> She now runs a website, www.grassrootshealth.org, where she extols the

> virtues of vitamin D.

>

> " It's so easy, it's simple, it's cheap, it's almost risk free, and if people

> knew about it they would be healthy, " Baggerly said.

> _____________________________________________________________________________

> _

> Abstract: Vitamin D (Vit D) deficiency is common at breast cancer (BC)

> diagnosis and is associated with a significantly higher risk of distant

> recurrence and death in a prospective cohort study of T1-3, N0-1, M0 BC.

> Author Block: P. J. Goodwin, M. Ennis, K. I. Pritchard, J. Koo, N. Hood;

> Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada; University of

Toronto,

> Toronto, ON, Canada; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada;

> St. 's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

> Background: Vit D acts through a nuclear transcription factor to regulate

> many aspects of cellular growth and differentiation. Low levels have been

> associated with increased BC risk. We examined Vit D levels and prognostic

effects

> in an existing BC cohort.

>

> Methods: 512 consecutive women with newly diagnosed BC were enroled at 3 U

> of Toronto hospitals between 1989 and 1995. A blood specimen obtained at

> diagnosis was stored at -80¡ãC. The Block questionnaire was used to measure

diet

> intake. Clinical and pathology data were obtained from medical and pathology

> records. 25-OH Vit D was measured by radioimmunoassay. Women were followed

> prospectively to 2006.

>

> Results: Mean age was 50.4¡À9.7 yrs. 288 women had T1 tumors, 164 T2 and 24

> T3/4. 356 tumors were N0. 342 were estrogen receptor (ER) positive. 73 tumors

> were grade 1, 202 grade 2 and 173 grade 3. 199 women received adjuvant

> chemotherapy (CXT) and 200 received tamoxifen. 116 women (22.7%) had distant

> recurrences and 106 (20.7%) died during a median follow-up of 11.6 yrs. Mean

25-OH

> Vit D was 58.1¡À23.4 nmol/L. Vit D levels were deficient (<50 nmol/L) in 192

> (37.5%), insufficient (50-72 nmol/L) in 197 (38.5%) and adequate (>72

> nmol/L) in 123 (24.0%). Low Vit D levels were associated with premenopausal

status,

> high body mass index (BMI), high insulin and high tumor grade (all p¡Ü0.03).

> Low Vit D levels were associated with low dietary intake of retinol, Vitamin

> E, grains and alcohol (all p<0.02). Vit D was marginally lower when drawn in

> winter (Oct-Mar) vs summer (Apr-Sept) months (56.7 vs 59.5 nmol/L, p=0.07).

> Distant disease-free survival (DDFS) was significantly worse in women with

> deficient (vs adequate) Vit D levels (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.16-3.24, p=0.02) as

was

> overall survival (OS) (HR 1.73, 95% CI 1.05-2.86, p=0.02). Vit D

> associations with DDFS were independent of age, BMI, insulin, T and N stage,

ER and

> grade (all HR ¡Ý1.55 Q1 vs Q4, all p ¡Ü 0.04); they were not significantly

> modified by ER, adjuvant CXT or tamoxifen. Vit D associations with OS were

> attenuated by grade and were absent in ER negative BC.

> Conclusions: Vit D deficiency is common at BC diagnosis and is associated

> with poor prognosis.

> _____________________________________________________________________________

> _____

>

>

> UPCOMING EVENTS

> VITAMIN D PREVENTS CANCER, OTHER DISEASES--IS IT TRUE??

> -July 15- Columbia-Greene Healthcare Consortium-325 Columbia Street- Hudson

> (Co-sponsored by the Columbia-Greene Healthcare Consortium)

> -July 16- Benedictine Hospital, Kingston (Co-sponsored by the Oncology

> Support program at Benedictine Hospital)

> Have you been reading the press about vitamin D? The latest story from

> Canada was that there was a 94% greater probability of cancer recurrence in

women

> with low vitamin D levels. Does vitamin D really prevent cancer? Other

> diseases? Can it be used to treat disease? What's the evidence? Carole

> Baggerly, Director of GrassrootsHealth, a vitamin D education organization, is

> touring the country providing short educational sessions on Vitamin D and its

> potential to prevent cancer and other diseases! This information will be

> presented at the upcoming 44th ASCO Annual Meeting taking place May 30-June 3

in

> Chicago.

> To register-845/339-4673

> ________________________________________________

>

>

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