The current study was conducted to assess the effect of post-diagnostic serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations on overall survival and distant disease-free survival in breast cancer patients. A prospective cohort study in Germany included 1295 incident postmenopausal breast cancer patients aged 50-74 years who were diagnosed between 2002 and 2005 and were followed up for a median of 5.8 years. Lower concentrations of 25(OH)D were linearly associated with higher risk of death (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.08 per 10 nmol/L decrement; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00 to 1.17) and significantly higher risk of distant recurrence (HR = 1.14 per 10 nmol/L decrement; 95%CI, 1.05 to 1.24). Compared with the highest tertile (55 nmol/L), patients within the lowest tertile (35 nmol/L) of 25(OH)D had a HR for overall survival of 1.55 (95%CI, 1.00 to 2.39) and a HR for distant disease-free survival of 2.09 (95%CI, 1.29 to 3.41). The association with overall survival was significant for 25(OH)D levels of blood samples collected before, but not after, the start of chemotherapy. The authors concluded that lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations may be associated with poorer survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res. 2011 Jul 26;13(4):R74. PMID: 21791049.
