Sufficient levels of vitamin D may help protect Hispanic and potentially black women from developing breast cancer, new research suggests.
Computer Screen in Hospital Radiology Room: Beautiful Adult Multiethnic Woman Standing Topless Undergoing Mammography Procedure. Screen showing mammogram scans of the dense breast tissues. Photo: Shutterstock
Few studies have investigated the relationship between Vitamin D with the breast cancer within racial or ethnic groups, taking into account that women Black African Americans and Hispanic/Latina women have circulating levels of vitamin D lower than the women non-Hispanic white.
Dr. Katie O’Brien and colleagues at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences measured levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D) in blood samples of 290 Women Black/African American and 125 women non-black Hispanic/Latina women who developed breast cancery 1084 women Black/African American and 461 women Hispanic/Latina women who did not develop breast cancer.
During an average follow-up of 9.2 years, the women with circulating levels of 25(OH)D above the clinical cut-off point for deficiency (20.0 ng/mL) had a rate of breast cancer 21% lower than women with concentrations below this cutoff, although the result did not reach statistical significance (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.61 to 1.02).
The inverse association was stronger in women Hispanic/Latina (HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.93), with a weaker association observed in women Black/African American (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.68 to 1.18; P for heterogeneity = 0.13).
There was no clear dose-response relationship between 24,25(OH)2D or the ratio of 24,25(OH)2D to 25(OH)D and the risk from breast cancer.
Associations between 25(OH)D and breast cancer did not vary according to tumor characteristics.
“Although our sample size limited our ability to detect small differences, our findings do not support our hypothesis that the vitamin D might explain why the women Black/African American women are more likely to be diagnosed with ER-negative disease,” the study team says.
“Although many questions remain, these findings add to the evidence that the vitamin D protects once morest breast cancer and highlight a possible path for intervention in 2 racial/ethnic groups with a high prevalence of deficiency of vitamin D“, they write.
“Because the women who identify themselves as members of these groups have lower levels of vitamin Don average, that the women non-Hispanic whites, might receive better health benefits from interventions that promote intake of vitamin D“, says Dr. O’Brien in a news story.
“However, questions remain as to whether these associations are truly causal and, if so, what levels of vitamin D are more beneficial,” he adds.
The study was not commercially funded and the authors have declared no relevant conflicts of interest.
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