foodconsumer.org: Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of breast cancer

Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of breast cancer
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admin on 10/09/2009 02:31:00
 
By David Liu
Breast cancer patients tend to suffer vitamin d deficiency, a new study
presented Thursday, Oct. 8, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's
Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco shows.
The study led by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center shows
that of women with breast cancer undergoing treatment for the disease, nearly 70
percent had low levels of vitamin d in their blood.
Breast cancer is diagnosed in more than 180,000 American women and the disease
kills more than 50,000 each year in the country.
"Vitamin D is essential to maintaining bone health, and women with breast cancer
have accelerated bone loss due to the nature of hormone therapy and
chemotherapy. It's important for women and their doctors to work together to
boost their vitamin D intake," said Luke Peppone, Ph.D., research assistant
professor of Radiation Oncology, at Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.
Vitamin D deficiency is not just a problem with bone health.  It has already
been associated with elevated risk of at least 17 cancers including breast
cancer in many previous studies, according to Dr. John Cannell, a vitamin D
expert and president of vitamin D council.
The study of data from 166 women with breast cancer showed those with
late-stgage disease and non-caucasian women had even lower levels. 
Non-caucasian women are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency, which is
linked to high risk of cancer.
The study found the average level was 27 nangrams per milliliter and more than
two-thirds of the subjects had vitamin D deficiency.
The University of Rochester released a press release saying that the U.S.
Institute of Medicine recommends that blood levels of vitamin D should be
maintained at 32 nanograms per mL.  But Dr. Cannell suggests that blood levels
of this essential vitamin should be maintained between 50–80 ng/mL (or
125–200 nM/L) year-round.
The current study is not the first to find vitamin D deficiency in women with
breast cancer. One study published in 2006 in the journal of clinical Pathology
analysed data on 279 women with breast cancer and found that the vitamin D
levels were very low in women in the late-stage breast cancer compared to those
having early stgage breast cancer.
Garland CF and Garland FC of the University of California in San Diego stdied
the history of exposure to sunlight or intake of vitamin D and  have found that
high vitamin D levels are associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.
Garland et al. found “ individuals with serum 25(OH) D of approximately 52 ng
per ml had 50% lower risk of breast cancer than those with serum