Vitamin D: An Effective, Inexpensive Way to Improve Breast Cancer Survival?

De novo vitamin D supplementation may help increase longevity among women with breast cancer—and the sooner it is initiated, the better—according to a new study.

The findings further support a protective effect of vitamin D against breast cancer that has been demonstrated in previous studies. Moreover, they suggest that vitamin D supplementation “has the potential as a non-toxic and inexpensive agent to improve survival in breast cancer patients,” the authors of the study wrote.

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For their study, Jamie Madden, PhD, MSc, of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, and colleagues assessed 5417 women aged 50 to 80 years with a documented diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. Data were obtained through the National Cancer Registry Ireland database.

Linked national prescription data helped identify de novo vitamin D initiation after breast cancer diagnosis (n = 2581, 49%). Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for breast cancer-specific mortality were estimated via Cox proportional hazards models.

Ultimately, the researchers found that de novo vitamin D use after a breast cancer diagnosis was associated with a 20% reduction in breast cancer-specific mortality compared with non-use (modeled as a time-varying variable).

Furthermore, breast cancer-specific mortality decreased by 49% among women who initiated vitamin D within 6 months after their diagnosis (HR 0.51).

“Findings support the need for [randomized controlled trials] exploring the effect of vitamin D supplementation on breast cancer survival,” they concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Madden JM, Murphy L, Zgaga L, Bennett K. De novo vitamin D supplement use post-diagnosis is associated with breast cancer survival. Breast Cancer Treatment Res. 2018;172(1):179-190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-018-4896-6