Ciência e terapia do câncer

Prognostic Impact of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Egyptian Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Shereen El-Shorbagy, Rasha Haggag, Huda F Ebian, Hany A Labi, Ola A Harb

Background: According to the literature, vitamin D (Vit D) deficiency is a risk factor for breast cancer developing with lack of information on its direct prognostic effects in breast cancer.

Patients and methods: A total of 168 women with proven breast cancer diagnosed in Zagazig university hospitals- Egypt were enrolled in this study. Serum level of 25 (OH) Vit D was measured in stored blood just after diagnosis. Vit D levels were classified into three groups: deficient: <10 ng/ml; insufficient: 10 ng/ml to 30 ng/ml; and sufficient: >30 ng/ml. Clinical-pathological data and disease outcome were accessed to examine prognostic effect of vitamin D in breast cancer.

Results: Median age was 51.5 (26-77) years, Metastasis was present in 13.1% of the cases. The median serum level of 25(OH) Vit D was 20 (5-98) ng/ml; it was deficient in 36.9% of patients, insufficient in 32.1% of patients, and sufficient in 31% of patients. Serum level of 25 (OH) VitD levels decreased significantly with increasing body mass index (BMI) (P=0.00), also the relations of 25 (OH) Vit D level with the number of positive lymph nodes, tumor size, tumor stage and KI 67 level were statistically significant (p= 0.01, p=0.011, p=0.002, p= 0.001 respectively). The level of 25 (OH) vitamin D was significantly low in metastatic patients (p=0.01). For those non -metastatic BC patients; there was no statistically significant difference in mean Disease-Free Survival (DFS) times across the 3 categories of serum Vitamin D (p=0.13), also for metastatic patients, serum vit D level didn’t affect the median PFS (p=0.98). The mean OS of the 3 different categories of serum vit D (sufficient, insufficient and deficient) were 45.8 months, 39.7 months and 39 months respectively (p=0.047). Univariate analysis, showed that OS was significantly affected by age, BMI, grade, stage, molecular type and vit D levels (p=0.014, p=0.002, p=0.002, p<0.0001, and p=0.047 respectively), but in Multivariate analysis: age, BMI, stage, and vit D levels were the only independent factors significantly affect the OS (p=0.01, 0.001, p<0.0001 and p=0.022, respectively).

Conclusion: There may be an association between serum 25 (OH) Vit D level and breast cancer prognosis.