title: Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and survival in Norwegian patients with cancer of breast, colon, lung, and lymphoma: a population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) and risk of death in Norwegian cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population was 658 patients with cancers of the breast (n = 251), colon (n = 52), lung (n = 210), and lymphoma (n = 145), obtained from JANUS, a population-based serum bank in Norway. Serum samples were collected within 90 days of cancer diagnosis and were analyzed for 25-OHD. Patients were diagnosed during 1984-2004 and were followed for death throughout 2008. We used Cox regression models to assess the relationship between serum 25-OHD and risk of death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred and ninety-nine patients died during follow-up, of whom 343 (86%) died from cancer. Adjusted for sex, age at diagnosis, and season of blood sampling, patients with 25-OHD levels below 46 nmol/L at diagnosis experienced shorter survival. Compared to patients in the lowest quartile of serum 25-OHD, the risk of cancer death among patients in the highest quartile was significantly reduced (HR 0.36 95% CI 0.27, 0.51). The estimated change in risk of cancer death was most pronounced between the first and the second quartile. The associations between 25-OHD levels and survival were observed for all four cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher circulating serum levels of 25-OHD were positively associated with the survival for cancers of the breast, colon, lung, and lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: The Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Majorstuen, 0304 Oslo, Norway. steinar.tretli@kreftregisteret.no
authors.forename: Steinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tretli
authors.forename: Gary G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Peter Abusdal
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Torjesen
authors.forename: Trude Eid
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Robsahm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D