Vitamin D and Histological Features of Breast Cancer: Preliminary Data from an Observational Retrospective Italian Study

Background: Vitamin D (vitD) may be involved in different extraskeletal conditions as well as skeletal muscle diseases. It has been hypothesized that, at least in part, a low level of vitD could contribute to facilitating cancer development. Breast cancer (BC) seems to be associated with low levels...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stefano Lello, Anna Capozzi, Lorenzo Scardina, Lucia Ionta, Roberto Sorge, Giovanni Scambia, Gianluca Franceschini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Journal of Personalized Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/12/3/465
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Summary:Background: Vitamin D (vitD) may be involved in different extraskeletal conditions as well as skeletal muscle diseases. It has been hypothesized that, at least in part, a low level of vitD could contribute to facilitating cancer development. Breast cancer (BC) seems to be associated with low levels of vitD. Materials and methods: This was an observational retrospective evaluation of 87 women (mean age: 54 ± 12 years old) who underwent surgery for the treatment of BC. Our main purpose was to correlate the types of BC and the levels of vitD. Results: A positive significant correlation (R > 0.7) was found between non-invasive carcinoma in situ and 25(OH)D levels and age (R = 0.82, <i>p</i> < 0.05). A positive, but nonsignificant, correlation was reported between invasive ductal carcinoma and 25(OH)D and age (R = 0.45, <i>p</i> > 0.05). A negative but nonsignificant correlation was found between invasive lobular carcinoma and 25(OH)D and age (R = 0.24, <i>p</i> > 0.05). Discussion and Conclusions: We did not find a significant relationship between vitD and BC subtypes. Considering the positive significant correlation between vitD levels and age for in situ BC, although preliminary, our results seem to suggest a possible role of vitD in in situ BC. However, these findings need to be confirmed in larger studies.
ISSN:2075-4426