Low Vitamin D Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk

SAN DIEGOA prospective study published in Cancer Causes and Control ties low vitamin D levels to high risk of premenopausal breast cancer. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found women with low serum vitamin D levels in the three months prior to diagnosis had three times the risk of breast cancer compared to women with the highest serum levels (Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Jan 8.). The study used blood serum samples from 1,200 women frozen by the Department of Defense Serum Repository for routine disease surveillance.

While the mechanisms by which vitamin D could prevent breast cancer are not fully understood, this study suggests that the association with low vitamin D in the blood is strongest late in the development of the cancer," said principal investigator Cedric Garland, DrPH, FACE, professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at UC San Diego.

Researchers from Creighton University recently utilized the Serum Repository and found low vitamin D levels may correlate to suicide in active duty military personnel.  Stay up to date with the latest vitamin D news in the INSIDER Vitamin D Topic Feed.