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Higher vitamin D levels associated with better cancer survival rates
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Patients with cancer who had higher levels of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D were more likely to have better chances at remission and survival, according to data recently published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The association between high vitamin D levels in the blood and better cancer survival was strongest in breast, lymphoma and colorectal cancers; the association was weaker but still significant in lung cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma.
“The results suggest vitamin D may influence the prognosis for people with breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lymphoma, in particular” study researcher Hui Wang, MD, PhD, professor at the Institute for Nutritional Sciences at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences in Shanghai, China, said in a press release.
Hui Wang
“Considering that vitamin D deficiency is a widespread issue all over the world, it is important to ensure that everyone has sufficient levels of this important nutrient. Physicians need to pay close attention to vitamin D levels in people who have been diagnosed with cancer,” she said.
The meta-analysis considered 25 previous trials composed of 17,332 cancer cases. Serum 25- (OH)D levels were collected at the time of cancer diagnosis. In statistical analysis, researchers compared the highest and the lowest quartile of circulating 25-(OH)D levels to calculate the pooled estimates for the survival outcomes.
- The pooled HR for the highest vs. the lowest quartile of circulating 25-(OH)D levels was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.33-0.91) for overall survival of colorectal cancer patients;
- Pooled HR was 0.63 (95% CI, 0.51-0.77) for patients with breast cancer;
- Pooled HR was 0.48 (95% CI, 0.36-0.64) for patients with lymphoma.
Findings demonstrated that higher 25-(OH)D levels were significantly associated with reduced cancer-specific mortality for patients with colorectal cancer (P=.005) and lymphoma (P=.001), and improved disease-free survival for patients with breast cancer (P=001) or lymphoma (P=.05).
Overall, researchers saw that a 10-nmol/L increment in circulating 25-(OH)D levels conferred an HR of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.95-0.97) for overall survival of the patients with cancer.
The researchers noted that their meta-analysis may be limited by differing standards of collection accuracy for serum 25-(OH)D, as most trials evaluated only one measurement of circulating 25-(OH)D levels and the time of blood sample collection was not always consistent.
“Randomized, placebo-controlled trials could elucidate the potential benefits of vitamin D on outcomes for cancer patients,” the study researchers said. “More intervention studies are required to elucidate the clinical benefits of vitamin D supplements for cancer patients.”
Disclosure: This study was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Nature Science Foundation, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Director Foundation and the Food Safety Research Center, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences. One researcher received financial support from the Sanofi-Aventis–Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences scholarship program.
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