Vitamin D blood levels are inversely related to the risk of developing breast cancer. This study confirms my original work revealing that patients with the triple negative form of breast cancer (the most aggressive form) had the lowest blood vitamin D levels. See ➡︎ Triple negative breast cancer patients presenting with low serum vitamin D levels: a case series. Christa Rainville*, Yasir Khan and Glenn Tisman, M.D. Address: 10 Edelweiss, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 Cases Journal 2009, 2:8390 doi: 10.4076/1757-1626-2-8390: This article is available from: http://casesjournal.com/casesjournal/article/view/8390.
Read moreVitamin D Levels Associated with Poor Prognosis Type Breast Cancers
Serum vitamin D levels measured as 25-hydroxyvitamin D have been shown to be low in cancer patients, including breast cancer patients. However, the vitamin D status has yet to be studied in different breast cancer phenotypes: luminal A, luminal B, HER2+/ER-, and triple negative comprising the majority of basal-like.
Dr Tisman, Khan and Rainville, working in a small Whittier, CA cancer research laboratory first discovered a relationship between blood vitamin D levels and the severity of breast cancer and reported the results in the journal Cases J. 2009 Jul 21;2:8390. doi: 10.4076/1757-1626-2-8390. Luke Joseph Peppone PhD of the University of Rochester confirmed the results in a large multi-institutional study of 492 patients and reported their results in 2015 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology volume 33, 2015 (suppl; abstr e12619).
Dr. Tisman's group reported on fifteen triple-negative breast cancer patients who presented to their medical oncology office. Thirteen of the fifteen patients (87%) were found to be vitamin D deficient, defined as serum 25(OH)D less than 80 nmol/L, prior to initiation of adjuvant therapy. Ninety-one breast cancer patients from their office were classified as: luminal A (ER+ &/or PR+ and HER2-), luminal B (ER+ &/or PR+ and HER2+), HER2+/ER- (ER-, PR-, and HER2+), and triple-negative or basal-like (ER-, PR-, and HER2-). A normal mean was found from 78 volunteers. The breast cancer patients were found to have low vitamin D levels when compared to a normal population. The triple-negative phenotype was found to have the lowest blood vitamin D levels.
Tisman's Group Concludes:
The triple-negative breast cancer phenotype has the lowest average vitamin D level and the highest percentage of patients that are vitamin D deficient. Tisman's findings suggests that low vitamin D levels are characteristic of the triple-negative phenotype.
In confirmatory studies, Luke Joseph Peppone's group examined the association between 25-OH vitamin D levels at surgery and prognostic factors for breast cancer patients. Confirming Tisman's previously reported results, they concluded that breast cancer patients with sub-optimal vitamin D levels were more likely to have tumors with a more aggressive profile, lending support to decreased breast cancer survival among vitamin D deficient individuals.
Glenn Tisman, M.D.