Vitamin D and Health

adults (n=1621; mean age, 74y) in the US for a median of 11 years and reported no association
between seasonally adjusted serum 25(OH)D concentration and cancer. The other study (Ordonez-
Mena et al., 2013) followed adults in Germany (n=9580; age, 50-74y) for more than 8 years and
reported an association between low serum 25(OH)D concentration (season specific ranges, 30-
36 nmol/L) and increased risk for any cancer in men but not in women.
6.209 Colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis of 8 studies (Gandini et al., 2011) reported a significant inverse
relationship between serum 25(OH)D concentration and colorectal cancer risk (RR = 0.85; 95% CI,
0.79-0.92 per 25 nmol/L increase in 25(OH)D). Another meta-analysis of 9 studies (Chung et al., 2011)
reported that each 10 nmol/L increase in pre-diagnosis 25(OH)D concentration was associated with a
6% reduction in risk of colorectal cancer (OR=0.94; 95% CI, 0.91-0.97; p 77 nmol/L) vs lowest quantile
(< 45 nmol/L) of serum/plasma 25(OH)D concentration (RR=0.92; 95% CI, 0.83-1.02). A subsequent
study (Kim et al., 2014) of five ethnic groups in the US (white, African-American, native Hawaiian,
Japanese, Latino) reported an inverse association between breast cancer risk and 25 nmol/L increases
in plasma 25(OH)D concentration (OR=0.66; 95% CI, 0.48-0.90) in whites but not in other ethnic
groups.
6.211 Prostate cancer: A meta-analysis of 14 studies (Gilbert et al., 2011) found a non-significant increase in
prostate cancer risk per 25 nmol/L increase in serum 25(OH)D concentration (OR=1.04; 95% CI, 0.99-
1.10). Out of 5 subsequent studies, 2 (Albanes et al., 2011; Meyer et al., 2013) reported that higher
serum 25(OH)D concentration was associated with significantly increased risk of prostate cancer.
Meyer et al. (2013) reported a rate ratio of 1.15 (95% CI, 1.04-1.27) per 30 nmol/L increase in serum
25(OH)D concentration while Albanes et al. (2011) reported an OR of 1.56 (95% CI, 1.15-2.12) for men
in the highest quintile of serum 25(OH)D concentration (> 45.6 nmol/L in winter; > 59.9 nmol/L in
summer) compared with those in the lowest quintile (≤ 16.3 nmol/L in winter; ≤ 25.9 nmol/L in
summer). The other 3 studies (Brandstedt et al., 2012; Kristal et al., 2014; Schenk et al., 2014) found
no significant associations. Shui et al. (2012) observed a 57% reduction in risk of lethal prostate
cancer in the highest versus lowest quartile of plasma 25(OH)D concentration 65 (OR=0.43; 95% CI,
0.24-0.76), however there was no association with overall prostate cancer.
6.212 Other cancers: Less evidence is available for other cancers. No significant association with serum
25(OH)D concentration was reported for cancers of the oesophagus and stomach combined (Abnet et
al., 2010), larynx and oropharynx combined (Arem et al., 2011), lung (Kilkkinen et al., 2008; Weinstein
et al., 2011), endometrium (Zeleniuch-Jacquotte et al., 2010), ovary (Yin et al., 2011), kidney
65 Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations not specified.
75