Women taking Vitamin D had fewest deaths after post-menopause breast cancer

Postdiagnosis supplement use and breast cancer prognosis in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, May 2013

Elizabeth M. Poole, XiaoOu Shu, Bette J. Caan, Shirley W. Flatt, Michelle D. Holmes, Wei Lu, Marilyn L. Kwan, Sarah J. Nechuta, John P. Pierce, Wendy Y. Chen

Vitamin supplement use after breast cancer diagnosis is common, but little is known about long-term effects on recurrence and survival. We examined postdiagnosis supplement use and risk of death or recurrence in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project, a consortium of four cohorts of 12,019 breast cancer survivors from the United States and China. Post-treatment supplement use (vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and multivitamins) was assessed 1–5 years postdiagnosis. Associations with risk of recurrence, breast cancer-specific mortality, or total mortality were analyzed in Cox proportional hazards models separately by cohort. Individual cohort results were combined using random effects meta-analysis.

Interactions with smoking, treatment, and hormonal status were examined. In multivariate models, vitamin E was associated with a decreased risk of recurrence (RR: 0.88; 95 % CI 0.79–0.99), and vitamin C with decreased risk of death (RR: 0.81; 95 % CI 0.72–0.92). However, when supplements were mutually adjusted, all associations were attenuated. There were no statistically significant associations with breast cancer mortality. The use of antioxidant supplements (multivitamins, vitamin C, or E) was not associated with recurrence, but was associated with a 16 % decreased risk of death (95 % CI 0.72–0.99). In addition, vitamin D was associated with decreased risk of recurrence among ER positive, but not ER negative tumors (p-interaction = 0.01). In this large consortium of breast cancer survivors, post-treatment use of vitamin supplements was not associated with increased risk of recurrence or death. Post-treatment use of antioxidant supplements was associated with improved survival, but the associations with individual supplement were difficult to determine. Stratification by ER status and considering antioxidants as a group may be more clinically relevant when evaluating associations with cancer risk and mortality.

Summary by Vitamin D Life from above abstract and Life Extension

• 12,000 breast cancer patients

• Looked at reduced chance of death with supplements 1-5 years later

• 16% reduction: Vitamin C, OR Vitamin E OR Multivitamin supplement

• 21% reduction: Vitamin C AND Vitamin E AND Multivitamin supplements

• 36% reduction: Vitamin D: if estrogen receptor-positive tumors (ER+)

  • Note: % of ER+ Breast Cancers: 50% are before menopause and 70% are after menopause

Note: 36% is an average over all dosing levels of vitamin D.

Vitamin D Life would expect >70% for those women taking >4,000 IU of vitamin D

Note: Vitamin D also PREVENTS cancer

See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview Breast Cancer and Vitamin D

• Vitamin D Might Be Able to Slash Your Breast Cancer Risk by 90 Percent - Baggerly, Mercola: May 2013

• Breast Cancer post menopause down 12 percent for every 5 ng of vitamin D – meta-analysis May 2013

• Vitamin D and breast cancer – overview – Oncologist 2012

• 3X increased chance of Breast Cancer if recent vitamin D levels were low – Jan 2013

• 2X more likely to survive breast cancer disease free if lots of vitamin D – July 2011

• Postmenopausal Breast cancer 63 percent more likely if low vitamin D – July 2012

• Cancer patients 64% less likely to die if have high level of vitamin D – Dec 2011

• Vitamin D and breast cancer radiation

• Vitamin D3 sensitizes breast cancer to radiation treatment - increasing cancer cell death – May 2010

• Overview Cancer and vitamin D which includes a lot on breast cancer

• All items in category Breast Cancer and Vitamin D items

• Search Vitamin D Life for Estrogen Receptor and "breast cancer" 130 items as of Nov 2014