Another cancer linked with reduced vitamin D levels

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Another cancer linked with reduced vitamin D levels

Readers of Life Extension Update will recall the September 23, 2006

issue which discussed the finding of researchers from the & rsquo;s

Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego of an

association between reduced sunlight exposure and a greater incidence of

kidney cancer. Now, in an article that will be published online in the

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the UCSD team reports that

women exposed to a greater amount of sunlight, particularly ultraviolet

B (UVB) radiation, have a lower incidence of ovarian cancer. UVB

exposure stimulates the synthesis of vitamin D in the body, however, the

vitamin is also obtainable via the diet and/or supplementation.

UCSD School of Medicine professor of Family and Preventive Medicine

Cedric F. Garland, Dr PH, and colleagues utilized a database of cancer

incidence, mortality, and prevalence in 175 countries, recently made

available from the World Health Organization & rsquo;s International

Agency for Research on Cancer. By graphing ovarian cancer incidence

rates according to latitude, the team was able to demonstrate an

association between higher latitudes, which receive reduced sunlight,

and ovarian cancer. Additionally, greater fertility rates among women

between the ages of 15 and 19, which may be protective against ovarian

cancer, were more prevalent in lower latitudes.

& ldquo;In general, ovarian cancer incidence was highest at the highest

latitudes in both hemispheres, & rdquo; Dr Garland stated. & ldquo;They

were about five times higher in high latitudes, like Iceland and Norway,

than in equatorial regions like Asia, South America and Africa. Even

after controlling for fertility, the association remained strong. & rdquo;

& ldquo;Unlike breast cancer, we have no widely accepted means of early

detection or prevention for ovarian cancer, & rdquo;

Dr Garland observed. & ldquo;This new global study shows a link between

deficiency of vitamin D and increased incidence of ovarian cancer,

suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the incidence of

this aggressive cancer. & rdquo;

Approximately 15,300 deaths from ovarian cancer occur in the United

States each year.