Results from the retrospective study were consistent with a role for vitamin D in melanoma outcome. The cohort study tests this hypothesis, providing evidence that higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) levels, at diagnosis, are associated with both thinner tumors and better survival from melanoma, independent of Breslow thickness. Patients with melanoma, and those at high risk of melanoma, should seek to ensure vitamin D sufficiency. Additional studies are needed to establish optimal serum levels for patients with melanoma.

We have carried out melanoma case-control comparisons for six vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels in order to investigate the role of vitamin D in melanoma susceptibility. There was no significant evidence of an association between any VDR SNP and risk in 1028 population-ascertained cases and 402 controls from Leeds, UK. In a second Leeds case-control study (299 cases and 560 controls) the FokI T allele was associated with increased melanoma risk (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.06-1.91, p=0.02). In a meta-analysis in conjunction with published data from other smaller data sets (total 3769 cases and 3636 controls), the FokI T allele was associated with increased melanoma risk (odds ratio (OR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.35), and the BsmI A allele was associated with a reduced risk (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.72-0.92), in each instance under a parsimonious dominant model. In the first Leeds case-control comparison cases were more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI) than controls (p=0.007 for linear trend). There was no evidence of a case-control difference in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels. In 1043 incident cases from the first Leeds case-control study, a single estimation of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level taken at recruitment was inversely correlated with Breslow thickness (p=0.03 for linear trend). These data provide evidence to support the view that vitamin D and VDR may have a small but potentially important role in melanoma susceptibility, and putatively a greater role in disease progression.

These findings suggest that at PDAI ≥ 7, every incremental increase in PDAI had a smaller detrimental impact on QoL. For the ABSIS, there was no significant difference in slopes before and after a given score, along with a higher P-value overall. Our results support previous findings 6 that the PDAI is superior to the ABSIS at capturing disease severity, especially at the lower end of disease activity (Figure 1c,d).To significantly improve QoL for patients with mucosal and nonmucosal PV, complete disease clearance may be necessary. Small amounts of worsening activity have an increasingly significant impact on QoL at the lower end of the spectrum. Above mild levels of activity, increasing activity has linear but detrimental smaller effects on QoL. The findings for patients with mucosal PV further support this, likely because oral erosions are painful and impact eating. Consistent with prior findings, 2 the Skindex-S best correlates with PDAI score in all patients.A notable limitation of this study is that our population had milder disease, with a median PDAI of 6Á75 and ABSIS of 11Á75. However, we are still able to show a change in QoL as the PDAI decreases, even at lower PDAI levels. Our findings have important clinical implications in determining appropriate outcomes for therapies. 7 Unlike dermatomyositis and systemic lupus erythematosus, 4 in patients with PV, complete clearance should be the goal.