Plasma 25‐hydroxyvitamin D and premenopausal breast cancer risk in a German case‐control study

Abstract

Laboratory and epidemiological data have linked vitamin D to breast cancer prevention. Beside dietary intake, endogenous production of vitamin D substantially contributes to a subject's vitamin D status. Most studies, however, have assessed dietary intake only. Although differential effects of vitamin D on premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer have been discussed, this is the first study to investigate the association of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], as indicator of the overall vitamin D status, with breast cancer risk with restriction to premenopausal women only. We used data of a population-based case-control study comprising 289 cases and 595 matched controls. Information on sociodemographic and breast cancer risk factors was collected by questionnaire and plasma 25(OH)D was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression. We observed a significant inverse association between breast cancer risk and plasma 25(OH)D concentrations. Compared with the lowest category (<30 nmol/L), the ORs (95% CI) for the upper categories [18][19][20] Few studies have assessed the relationship between serum or plasma 25(OH)D and breast cancer risk. [21][22][23][24][25] Of 2 small hospitalbased case-control studies in predominantly postmenopausal women, one study found a significantly inverse association 23 whereas the other study revealed no association between plasma 25(OH)D and breast cancer risk. 25 To date, 2 studies assessed the association of vitamin D metabolites with breast cancer risk with restriction to postmenopausal women only. 21,22 A study nested in the prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer screening trial reported no association between both higher plasma 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH) 2 D concentration and breast cancer risk. 22 However, a strong statistically significant inverse association between postmenopausal breast cancer risk and serum 25(OH)D was found in a large case-control study. 21 A case-control study nested in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) is the only study that so far reported results stratified by menopausal status. 24 The authors reported a nonsignificant decrease in breast cancer risk with both higher plasma 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH) 2 D concentration for overall breast cancer risk. Stratification by menopausal status suggested an inverse association for postmenopausal women only, however power was low for their analysis in premenopausal women and risk estimates were not presented. As reviewed recently, prospective studies on dietary intake of vitamin D suggest a more pronounced effect for premenopausal breast cancer risk. 26 Furthermore, we recently reported a significant inverse association of dietary vitamin D with premenopausal breast cancer risk in the present study population. 13 To our knowledge, no study so far assessed the association of plasma 25(OH)D with restriction to premenopausal breast cancer only. Following our previous report on the association between postmenopausal breast canc...

Lifestyle and vitamin D dosage in women with breast cancer

“…Other studies have found benefit in reducing breast cancer risk in pre-menopausal women with normal weight, mainly with an intake of 5 µg/day of vitamin D (57,58). Abbas et al (59) found an inverse association between breast cancer in pre-menopausal women and vitamin D levels, without interaction with BMI and family history of breast cancer, also demonstrated among Japanese women. Fedirko et al (60) also demonstrated an inverse association between circulating levels of vitamin D and breast cancer among pre-and post-menopausal Mexican women in a case-control study.…”

Plasma 25‐hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of breast cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition: A nested case–control study

“…Accordingly, when excluding the E3N cohort members from our EPIC-wide analyses, the associations between 25 Our results regarding hormone receptor positive and negative breast cancer subtypes are in agreement with those from most previous studies. One prospective study revealed that 25(OH)D levels might be inversely associated with the risk of ER2=PR2 tumors in particular, 29 and two case-control studies suggested stronger inverse associations between circulating 25(OH)D and the risk of ER2 34,38 or PR2 tumors, 34 when compared to ER1 and PR1 tumors, respectively. However, the numbers of ER2 and PR2 breast cancer cases were rather low in each of these studies.…”

Prospective Population-Based Study of the Association between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin-D Levels and the Incidence of Specific Types of Cancer

“…In observational studies, vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of cancers, such as colorectal cancer (9), lung cancer (10), and breast cancer (11). Also, a recent meta-analysis by Yin and colleagues found a moderate inverse association between vitamin D status and total cancer incidence and mortality (12).…”