Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of post-menopausal breast cancer--results of a large case-control study

Abstract

Various studies suggest that vitamin D may reduce breast cancer risk. Most studies assessed the effects of dietary intake only, although endogenous production is an important source of vitamin D. Therefore, the measurement of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] better indicates overall vitamin D status. To assess the association of 25(OH)D serum concentrations with post-menopausal breast cancer risk, we used a population-based case-control study in Germany, which recruited incident breast cancer patients aged 50-74 between 2002 and 2005. Information on sociodemographic and breast cancer risk factors was collected by personal interview. For this analysis, we included 1394 cases and 1365 controls, matched on year of birth and time of blood collection. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for breast cancer adjusted for potential confounders. Serum 25(OH)D concentration was significantly inversely associated with post-menopausal breast cancer risk. Compared with the lowest category (<30 nM), OR [95% confidence intervals (CI)] for the higher categories of 25(OH)D (30-45, 45-60, 60-75 and >/=75 nM) were 0.57 (0.45-0.73), 0.49 (0.38-0.64), 0.43 (0.32-0.57) and 0.31 (0.24-0.42), respectively (P(trend) < 0.0001). Analysis using fractional polynomials indicated a non-linear association. The association was stronger in women never using menopausal hormone therapy (HT) compared with past and current users (P(interaction) < 0.0001). Our findings strongly suggest a protective effect for post-menopausal breast cancer through a better vitamin D supply as characterized by serum 25(OH)D measurement, with a stronger inverse association in women with low serum 25(OH)D concentrations (<50 nM).

Plasma 25‐hydroxyvitamin D and premenopausal breast cancer risk in a German case‐control study

“…13 To our knowledge, no study so far assessed the association of plasma 25(OH)D with restriction to premenopausal breast cancer only. Following our previous report on the association between postmenopausal breast cancer risk and serum 25(OH)D, 21 we here describe the results on plasma 25(OH)D and premenopausal breast cancer risk from another population-based case-control study conducted in broadly the same geographical region. We further assessed differential effects by receptor status of the tumor.…”

“…[18][19][20] Few studies have assessed the relationship between serum or plasma 25(OH)D and breast cancer risk. [21][22][23][24][25] Of 2 small hospitalbased case-control studies in predominantly postmenopausal women, one study found a significantly inverse association 23 whereas the other study revealed no association between plasma 25(OH)D and breast cancer risk. 25 To date, 2 studies assessed the association of vitamin D metabolites with breast cancer risk with restriction to postmenopausal women only.…”

“…25 To date, 2 studies assessed the association of vitamin D metabolites with breast cancer risk with restriction to postmenopausal women only. 21,22 A study nested in the prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer screening trial reported no association between both higher plasma 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH) 2 D concentration and breast cancer risk. 22 However, a strong statistically significant inverse association between postmenopausal breast cancer risk and serum 25(OH)D was found in a large case-control study.…”

“…22 However, a strong statistically significant inverse association between postmenopausal breast cancer risk and serum 25(OH)D was found in a large case-control study. 21 A case-control study nested in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) is the only study that so far reported results stratified by menopausal status. 24 The authors reported a nonsignificant decrease in breast cancer risk with both higher plasma 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH) 2 D concentration for overall breast cancer risk.…”

Estrogen receptor polymorphisms and incident dementia: The prospective 3C study

“…This included an interaction between ESR1 and ESR2 polymorphisms [21] and the potential for ESR polymorphisms to modify the association between the Apoe-ε4 allele and the risk of AD [9,11]. We also examined potential interactions with hormone treatment, as it has been shown to modify the association between ESR and other health outcomes [34][35][36], but no prior study has examined whether it can modify the risk of dementia. SAS v9.2 was used for the analyses (SAS Institute, Inc., North Carolina).…”