Improved Survival In Cancer Patients With High Vitamin D Levels

Researchers have again found that higher levels of circulating vitamin D on diagnosis of cancer are associated with significantly better survival and remission rates. The new findings come from a comprehensive meta-analysis involving more than 17,000 cancer patients, published online in the April 29 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Mian Li, PhD, graduate student, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China, and multicenter colleagues found that overall survival for colorectal and breast cancer patients in the highest quartile of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels was significantly better than it was for those in the lowest quartile of 25(OH)D levels.

Overall survival was also significantly better for lymphoma patients in the highest 25(OH)D quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile. Higher circulating levels of vitamin D were also significantly associated with lower cancer-specific mortality rates among patients with both colorectal cancer and lymphoma, and disease-free survival rates were also significantly improved for patients with breast cancer and those with lymphoma...