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
. 2015 Mar 8:15:106.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-015-1112-5.

Vitamin D and cancer mortality in elderly women

Germaine Wong  1   2   3 , Wai Hon Lim  4   5 , Joshua Lewis  6   7 , Jonathan C Craig  8   9 , Robin Turner  10 , Kathy Zhu  11   12 , Ee Mun Lim  13 , Richard Prince  14   15
Affiliations

Vitamin D and cancer mortality in elderly women

Germaine Wong et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: There is increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for cancer, however it remains uncertain whether vitamin D deficiency also predisposes to death from cancer. The aim of the study was to determine the association between serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25 (OH) D) concentrations and cancer-specific mortality in a community-based cohort of older post-menopausal women.

Methods: Cox proportional regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between serum 25 (OH) D concentrations and the risk of overall and site-specific cancer mortality in a cohort of elderly women.

Results: Over a median follow-up time of 10 years, a total of 84 cancer deaths were observed. Women with lower serum 25 (OH) D concentrations were at an increased risk of cancer death, but not for incident cancer. The excess risk for cancer death was observed with serum 25 (OH) D concentration less than 64 nmol/L (the median value) [adjusted HR: 1.61 (95% CI: 1.02 - 2.54, p = 0.04]. For every 30 nmol/L reduction in serum 25 (OH) D concentrations, there was a 30% increase in the overall risk of cancer death [adjusted HR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.03 - 1.72, p = 0.02]. The excess risk appeared to be site-specific and greatest in those with haematological cancers [adjusted HR: 2.13: 95% CI: 1.0 - 4.55, p = 0.05].

Conclusions: In elderly women, lower serum 25 (OH) D concentrations appear to be an independent risk factor for cancer-specific mortality, but not a risk factor for the development of cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adjusted HR across continuous measures of serum 25 (OH) D concentrations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Adjusted cumulative incidence of cancer mortality by serum 25 (OH) D concentrations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Serum 25 (OH) D concentrations and site-specific cancer mortality.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cumulative incidence of cancer by serum 25 (OH) D concentrations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Arnson Y, Gringauz I, Itzhaky D, Amital H. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with poor outcomes and increased mortality in severely ill patients. QJM. 2012;105(7):633–9. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcs014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fan C, Nieto FJ, Bautista LE, Fine JP. Vitamin D intake and cardiovascular mortality in the NHANES I epidemiological follow-up study cohort. J Dietary Supplements. 2012;9(2):79–89. doi: 10.3109/19390211.2012.682204. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Eaton CB, Young A, Allison MA, Robinson J, Martin LW, Kuller LH, et al. Prospective association of vitamin D concentrations with mortality in postmenopausal women: results from the women’s health initiative (WHI) Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94(6):1471–8. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.017715. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Formiga F, Ferrer A. Low Serum Vitamin D is Not Associated with an Increase in Mortality in Oldest Old Subjects: The Octabaix Three-Year Follow-Up Study. Gerontology. 2014;60(1):10–5. doi: 10.1159/000351024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cui Y, Rohan TE. Vitamin D, calcium, and breast cancer risk: a review. [Review] [105 refs] Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev. 2006;15(8):1427–37. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-0075. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types