title: Vitamin D status and the risk of lung cancer: a cohort study in Finland.
abstract: Experimental data support the suppressing effect of vitamin D on lung carcinogenesis, but epidemiologic evidence is limited. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level is associated with the risk of lung cancer in a prospective cohort study in Finland. 25(OH)D levels were measured by RIA from serum collected at baseline (1978--1980) from 6,937 men and women. During a maximum follow-up of 24 years, 122 lung cancers were identified. After adjustment for potential confounders, no overall significant association between vitamin D and lung cancer risk was observed [relative risk (RR) for the highest versus lowest tertile, 0.72; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.43-1.19; Ptrend = 0.22]. There was a statistically significant interaction between vitamin D and sex (P = 0.02) and age (P = 0.02): serum 25(OH)D level was inversely associated with lung cancer incidence for women (RR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.04-0.59; Ptrend < 0.001) and younger participants (RR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.13-0.90; Ptrend = 0.04) but not for men (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.59-1.82; Ptrend = 0.81) or older individuals (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.50-1.70; Ptrend = 0.79). In conclusion, although there was no overall association between vitamin D and lung cancer risk, women and young participants with a higher level of vitamin D were observed to have a lower lung cancer risk. Although experimental data support the suppressing effect of vitamin D on the development of lung cancer, large epidemiologic studies from different populations with repeated measurements of vitamin D are warranted to confirm this finding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Functional Capacity, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, FI-00300 Helsinki, Finland. annamari.kilkkinen@ktl.fi
authors.forename: Annamari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kilkkinen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Knekt
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heliövaara
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rissanen
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marniemi
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hakulinen
authors.forename: Arpo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aromaa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012042:Registries; D012306:Risk; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D