Meta-analysis of vitamin D sufficiency for improving survival of patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM To determine whether higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at diagnosis is associated with longer survival of patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS A meta-analysis was performed of five studies of the relationship between 25(OH)D and mortality from breast cancer. A pooled hazard ratio was calculated using a random-effects model. The Der Simonian-Laird test was used to assess homogeneity. RESULTS Higher serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were associated with lower case-fatality rates after diagnosis of breast cancer. Specifically, patients in the highest quintile of 25(OH)D had approximately half the death rate from breast cancer as those in the lowest. CONCLUSION High serum 25(OH)D was associated with lower mortality from breast cancer. Serum 25(OH)D in all patients with breast cancer should be restored to the normal range (30-80 ng/ml), with appropriate monitoring. Clinical or field studies should be initiated to confirm that this association was not due to reverse causation.