Those with highest vit D levels 7 times more likely to survive prostate cancer

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The British Journal of Cancer reported that in men with prostate cancer, those with highest vitamin D blood levels were 7 (seven) times more likely to survive than were men with the lowest levels (RR 0.16).http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v100/n3/abs/6604865a.htmlAbstractBased on observations that for

certain cancers, mortality varies according to sun exposure, vitamin D

has been proposed to influence on disease progression.. This study aims

to investigate whether serum levels of 25(OH)D are associated with

prognosis in patients with prostate cancer. In total, 160 patients with

a serum sample in the JANUS serum bank were included. For 123 patients

a pre-treatment serum sample was taken, whereas 37 of the patients had

received hormone therapy prior to the blood collection. The serum level

of 25(OH)D was classified as low (< 50 nmol l-1), medium (50–80 nmol l-1) or high (>80 nmol l-1).

A proportional hazard regression model was used to assess the

association between serum 25(OH)D and cancer mortality. During

follow-up, 61 deaths occurred, of whom 52 died of prostate cancer. The

median time of follow-up was 44.0 months (range, 1.2–154.6). Serum

25(OH)D at medium or high levels were significantly related to better

prognosis (RR 0.33; 95% CI 0.14–0.77, RR 0.16; 95% CI 0.05–0.43)

compared with the low level. Analysis restricted to patients receiving

hormone therapy gave a stronger association. The serum level of 25(OH)D

may be involved in disease progression and is a potential marker of

prognosis in patients with prostate cancer.Keywords: 25(OH)D, serum, prostate cancer, prognosis, mortality