Triple-negative breast cancer is 3X more frequent if less than 32 ng of vitamin D

The Association Between Breast Cancer Prognostic Indicators and Serum 25-OH Vitamin D Levels.

Ann Surg Oncol. 2012 Mar 24.

Peppone LJ, Rickles AS, Janelsins MC, Insalaco MR, Skinner KA.

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, NY, USA, [email protected].

BACKGROUND: Studies show that women with low vitamin D levels have an increased risk of breast cancer (BC) incidence and mortality, but there is a lack of research examining vitamin D levels and prognostic variables in BC patients. The aim of this study is to examine 25-OH vitamin D levels between BC cases and controls and by prognostic indicators among BC cases.

METHODS: 25-OH vitamin D levels were collected from 194 women who underwent BC surgery and 194 cancer-free (CF) controls at the University of Rochester between January 2009 and October 2010. Mean 25-OH vitamin D levels and odds ratios (OR) were calculated by case/control status for the overall cohort and by prognostic indicators (invasiveness, ER status, triple-negative status, Oncotype DX score, molecular phenotype) for BC cases.

RESULTS: BC cases had significantly lower 25-OH vitamin D levels than CF controls (BC: 32.7 ng/mL vs. CF: 37.4 ng/mL; P = .02).

In case-series analyses, women with suboptimal 25-OH vitamin D concentrations (<32 ng/mL) had significantly higher odds of having

  • ER- (OR = 2.59, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.08-6.23) and

  • triple-negative cancer (OR = 3.15, 95% CI = 1.05-9.49)

than those with optimal 25-OH D concentrations.

Women with basal-like phenotype had lower 25-OH vitamin D levels than women luminal A phenotype (basal-like: 24.2 ng/mL vs. luminal A: 32.8 ng/mL; P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS: BC patients with a more aggressive molecular phenotype (basal-like) and worse prognostic indicators (ER- and triple-negative) had lower mean 25-OH vitamin D levels. Further research is needed to elucidate the biological relationship between vitamin D and BC progression.

PMID: 22446898

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Acronyms

  • WikiPedia say ER = Estrogen Receptor type of Breast Cancer: positive or negative

  • Wikipedia Triple Negative = no genes for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor or Her2/neu =surrogate term for basal cell cancer. Triple negative breast cancers have a relapse pattern that is very different from hormone-positive breast cancers: the risk of relapse is much higher for the first 3-5 years but drops sharply and substantially bellow that of hormone-positive breast cancers after that

See also Vitamin D Life

See also web

  • Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer Prevention PubMed, Sept 2013
    • Several promising agents currently being tested in cancer prevention trials for the prevention of TNBC include poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors, vitamin D, and rexinoids, both of which activate nuclear hormone receptors (the vitamin D and retinoid X receptors)