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
. 2022 Aug 16;14(16):3353.
doi: 10.3390/nu14163353.

Levels of Vitamin D and Expression of the Vitamin D Receptor in Relation to Breast Cancer Risk and Survival

Linnea Huss  1   2 , Salma Tunå Butt  2   3 , Signe Borgquist  4   5 , Karin Elebro  2   6 , Malte Sandsveden  2 , Jonas Manjer  2   3 , Ann Rosendahl  4
Affiliations

Levels of Vitamin D and Expression of the Vitamin D Receptor in Relation to Breast Cancer Risk and Survival

Linnea Huss et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Previous research suggests associations between low systemic levels of vitamin D and poor breast cancer prognosis and between expression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in breast cancers and survival. This study aimed to study associations between pre-diagnostic systemic levels of vitamin D and expression of VDR in subsequent breast tumors, and interactions between vitamin D and VDR on breast cancer mortality. Systemic vitamin D levels were measured in women within the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. The expression of VDR was evaluated immunohistochemically in a tissue microarray of subsequent breast cancers. Statistical analyses followed. Women with high levels of vitamin D had a smaller proportion of VDR negative breast tumors compared to women with low levels of vitamin D (odds ratio: 0.68; 95% confidence interval: 0.41-1.13). Vitamin D levels were not found to modify the association between low VDR expression and high breast cancer mortality. To conclude, there was no statistical evidence for an association between pre-diagnostic levels of vitamin D and the expression of VDRs in breast cancer, nor did vitamin D levels influence the association between VDR expression and breast cancer mortality. Further studies are needed in order to establish the effects of vitamin D on breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer; incidence; survival; vitamin D; vitamin D receptor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of study population, inclusion, and exclusion criteria. 1 Cases until end 2006 and controls in study with vitamin D levels measured. 2 Cases until end 2010. 3 Cases included in TMA. 4 Cases and controls with information on vitamin D level and VDR expression.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Kaplan-Meier curve showing breast cancer survival by tertiles of vitamin D. (B) Kaplan-Meier curves showing breast cancer survival by VDR expression stratified by tertiles of vitamin D.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Atoum M., Alzoughool F. Vitamin D and Breast Cancer: Latest Evidence and Future Steps. Breast Cancer Basic Clin. Res. 2017;11:1–8. doi: 10.1177/1178223417749816. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang X., Dimou N.L., Al-Dabhani K., Lewis S.J., Martin R.M., Haycock P.C., Gunter M.J., Key T.J., Eeles R.A., Muir K., et al. Circulating vitamin D concentrations and risk of breast and prostate cancer: A Mendelian randomization study. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2018;48:1416–1424. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyy284. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vojdeman F.J., Madsen C.M., Frederiksen K., Durup D., Olsen A., Hansen L., Heegaard A.M., Lind B., Tjonneland A., Jorgensen H.L., et al. Vitamin D levels and cancer incidence in 217,244 individuals from primary health care in Denmark. Int. J. Cancer. 2019;145:338–346. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32105. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jacobs E.T., Kohler L.N., Kunihiro A.G., Jurutka P.W. Vitamin D and Colorectal, Breast, and Prostate Cancers: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence. J. Cancer. 2016;7:232–240. doi: 10.7150/jca.13403. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yao S., Kwan M.L., Ergas I.J., Roh J.M., Cheng T.D., Hong C.C., McCann S.E., Tang L., Davis W., Liu S., et al. Association of Serum Level of Vitamin D at Diagnosis With Breast Cancer Survival: A Case-Cohort Analysis in the Pathways Study. JAMA Oncol. 2017;3:351–357. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.4188. - DOI - PMC - PubMed