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5 September 2008
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Vitamin D in adolescence linked to reduced breast cancer risk
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MedWire News: Young women who are exposed to high levels of vitamin D are less likely to develop breast cancer in later life than those exposed to low levels of the vitamin, researchers have found.
Vitamin D, which is important for bone health, is mainly produced in the body when skin is exposed to sunlight, but it is also found in some foods, such as liver, oily fish, eggs and dairy products.
A number of laboratory studies have indicated that vitamin D may help protect against breast cancer by preventing the growth of cancer cells, explain Dr Kristina Blackmore, from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues.
However, they add that studies which examined whether vitamin D exposure is related to breast cancer risk in humans have produced conflicting results.
To investigate further, the researchers studied 759 women with breast cancer and 1135 without the disease. All the women were asked about their exposure to sunlight and intake of vitamin D-containing foods between the ages of 10-19 years, 20-29 years and 45-54 years.
The team found that participants with a high exposure to vitamin D between the ages of 10 and 29 years were 24% less likely to develop breast cancer than those with a low exposure to the vitamin between these ages.
Furthermore, high levels of vitamin D exposure appeared to protect against breast tumours that were positive or negative for oestrogen or progesterone hormone receptors.
Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Dr Blackmore and team conclude: "This study suggests that vitamin D is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer regardless of oestrogen-receptor/progesterone-receptor status of the tumour."
However, they add that further studies with larger numbers of participants are needed to confirm the findings.
Am J Epidemiol 2008; Advance online publication
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/kwn198
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