title: Circulating levels of vitamin D and colon and rectal cancer: the Physicians' Health Study and a meta-analysis of prospective studies.
abstract: It remains unknown whether increased risk with low levels of vitamin D is present for colon and/or rectal cancer. To investigate the association between circulating vitamin D levels and colon and rectal cancer, we examined the associations between plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] and colon and rectal cancer in the Physicians' Health Study and then conducted a meta-analysis of eight prospective studies of circulating levels of 25(OH)D and colon and rectal cancers, including the Physicians' Health Study. Study-specific ORs and 95% CIs were pooled by using a random-effects model. A total of 1,822 colon and 868 rectal cancers were included in the meta-analysis. We observed a significant inverse association for colorectal cancer (OR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.54-0.81), comparing top versus bottom quantiles of circulating 25(OH)D levels. The inverse association was stronger for rectal cancer (OR = 0.50 for top versus bottom quantiles; 95% CI, 0.28-0.88) than colon cancer (OR = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.07; P value for difference between colon and rectal cancer = 0.20). These data suggest an inverse association between circulating 25(OH)D levels and colorectal cancer, with a stronger association for rectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Haojie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Bruce W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Hollis
authors.forename: I-Min
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Meir J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Stampfer
authors.forename: Kana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D012007:Rectum / Q000378:metabolism; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D