Higher Vitamin D is Associated with Decreased Risk of Breast Cancer

80% reduction in breast cancer risk
A 2018 pooled analysis of a randomized trial and a prospective cohort study by McDonnell et al. found that women who were 55 years of age or older with a vitamin D serum level of 60 ng/ml or greater had an 80% reduced risk of breast cancer compared to those with a vitamin D level of 20 ng/ml or less; 3 different analyses of the data showed similar results.



71% reduction in cancer risk
A 2016 pooled analysis of a randomized trial and a prospective cohort study by McDonnell et al. found that women who were 55 years of age or older with a vitamin D serum level of 40 ng/ml or greater had a 71% reduced risk of cancer compared to those with a vitamin D level of 20 ng/ml or less.

70% reduction in breast cancer risk
A 2013 case control study at UCSD School of Medicine, Mohr et al.  found that the three months prior to tumor diagnosis was a relevant window of time for cancer prevention and that those with vitamin D levels ≥35 ng/ml had a 70% reduction in risk of developing breast cancer than those with levels <15 ng/ml.

57% reduction in breast cancer risk
Bilinski et. al. demonstrated in a 2013 case control study that women with 25(OH)D levels ≥30 ng/ml had an almost 60% reduction in risk of breast cancer compared to those with levels <10 ng/ml.  Among women younger than 50 years old, there was a 71% reduction in risk and among women 50 years and older there was a 55% reduction in risk.

63% reduction in breast cancer risk
In a 2012 case control study, Yao et. al. found that women with 25(OH)D levels ≥30 ng/ml had more than a 60% reduction in breast cancer risk compared to women with levels <20 ng/ml.  Among post-menopausal women, there was a 71% reduction.

59% reduction in breast cancer risk
In a 2012 case control study, Peppone et. al. found that those with 25(OH)D levels ≥32 ng/ml had an almost 60% reduction in breast cancer risk compared to women with levels ≤20 ng/ml.

55% reduction in breast cancer risk
In a 2009 case control study, Abbas et al. found that women with 25(OH)D levels ≥24 ng/ml had more than a 50% reduction in risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer compared to those with levels <12 ng/ml.

62% reduction in breast cancer risk
In a 2009 case control study, Rejnmark found that pre-menopausal women with 25(OH)D levels ≥34 ng/ml had more than a 60% reduction in breast cancer risk compared to women with levels <24 ng/ml.

54% reduction in breast cancer risk
In a 2009 case control study, Crew et. al. found that post-menopausal women with 25(OH)D levels ≥40 ng/ml had more than a 50% reduction in breast cancer risk compared to women with levels <20 ng/ml.

69% reduction in breast cancer risk:
In a 2008 case control study, Abbas et al. found that those with 25(OH)D levels ≥30 ng/ml had an almost 70% reduced risk of post-menopausal breast cancer compared to those with levels <12 ng/ml.

77% reduction in all non-skin cancer incidence
A 2007 randomized clinical trial at Creighton University led by Joan Lappe, PhD, RN, FAAN, found that a dose of 1100 IU/day of vitamin D along with 1400-1500 mg/day of calcium helped women aged 55 and older raise their average serum vitamin D level to 38 ng/ml (from a baseline of 29 ng/ml) and prevent approximately 4 out of 5, or 80%, of all invasive cancers including breast cancer.

83% reduction in breast cancer risk
Lowe et al. demonstrated in a 2005 case control study that women with serum levels of >60 ng/ml had more than a five-fold (80%) reduction in breast cancer risk compared to women with levels <20 ng/ml.

Higher Vitamin D is Associated with Increased Survival of Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are twice as likely to survive the disease as women with low levels of this nutrient, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the March issue of Anticancer Research.

University of California, San Diego, March 6, 2014 — In previous studies, Cedric F. Garland, DrPH, professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, showed that low vitamin D levels were linked to a high risk of premenopausal breast cancer. That finding, he said, prompted him to question the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D – a metabolite produced by the body from the ingestion of vitamin D – and breast cancer survival rates.

Garland and colleagues performed a statistical analysis of five studies of 25-hydroxyvitamin D obtained at the time of patient diagnosis and their follow-up for an average of nine years. Combined, the studies included 4,443 breast cancer patients.