Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec;20(12):2507-11.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-11-0721. Epub 2011 Oct 5.

Cataract and ovarian carcinoma: is the vitamin D hypothesis alive?

Galina Lurie  1 , Rayna K Matsuno, Lynne R Wilkens, Pamela J Thompson, Nicholas J Ollberding, Michael E Carney, Marc T Goodman
Affiliations

Cataract and ovarian carcinoma: is the vitamin D hypothesis alive?

Galina Lurie et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The major health benefit of exposure to solar UV radiation is the production of vitamin D, which is implicated in protection against several human cancers, including ovarian carcinoma. On the other hand, solar UV radiation is a recognized risk factor for cataract.

Methods: This population-based case-control study of 709 women with primary invasive ovarian carcinoma and 1,101 controls examined the association of ovarian carcinoma risk with self-reported history of cataract as an indicator of high long-term exposure to UV radiation. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multivariate logistic regression models.

Results: Among controls, older age (P < 0.0001), history of type 2 diabetes (P = 0.04), and skin cancer (P = 0.03) were significant cataract risk predictors. A history of cataract, reported by 14% of cases and 17% of controls, was significantly associated with a reduced ovarian carcinoma risk (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8; P = 0.002). No heterogeneity was observed by tumor histology, stage, grade, study site, body mass index, or other ovarian cancer risk factors (P > 0.16).

Conclusion: These findings add indirect evidence to the hypothesis that lifetime vitamin D exposure may be inversely associated with risk of ovarian carcinoma.

Impact: The study suggests some potential new avenues for research. Additional studies are needed to further investigate the potential behavioral and biologic factors that might influence association of cataract with ovarian cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

We do not have conflict of interest to disclose.

References

    1. Ayala MN, Michael R, Soderberg PG. In vivo cataract after repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Exp Eye Res. 2000;70(4):451–456. - PubMed
    1. Ayala MN, Michael R, Soderberg PG. Influence of exposure time for UV radiation-induced cataract. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2000;41(11):3539–3543. - PubMed
    1. West SK, Longstreth JD, Munoz BE, Pitcher HM, Duncan DD. Model of risk of cortical cataract in the US population with exposure to increased ultraviolet radiation due to stratospheric ozone depletion. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162(11):1080–1088. - PubMed
    1. West SK, Longstreth JD, Munoz BE, Pitcher HM, Duncan DD. Model of risk of cortical cataract in the US population with exposure to increased ultraviolet radiation due to stratospheric ozone depletion. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162(11):1080–1088. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. [accessed, August 31, 2011];Priority eye diseases. www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html.

Publication types