Obesity and vitamin D deficiency may boost breast cancer risk

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 22, 2018 – A new study shows that vitamin D may reduce cancer risk as well as breast cancer mortality, especially in slender or average-weight women.

The study involving 600 Brazilian women showed that obese post menopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to women of the same age group who did not have breast cancer. The study appears in the September issue of the journal Menopause.
The results support earlier studies that show that post-menopausal women with vitamin D levels in the highest 25 percent of concentrations had a 50 percent lower death rate from breast cancer compared to women whose vitamin D levels were in the lowest quarter.

The researchers concluded that vitamin D may play a role in controlling breast cancer cells or impeding their growth.

"Although published literature is inconsistent about the benefits of vitamin D levels and breast cancer, this study and others suggest that higher levels of vitamin D in the body are associated with lowered breast cancer risk," says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director of NAMS.

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