title: Vitamin D deficiency and prognostics among patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among patients with cancer has been previously reported. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma may have an especially high risk of vitamin D deficiency in association with ongoing and varying degrees of malabsorption. However, little is known about the correlation between vitamin D status and prognosis in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective review of vitamin D status in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who were treated at Siteman Cancer Center. Patients' demographic information, clinical staging at the time of vitamin D assessment, vitamin D levels, and survival data were collected. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) level of less than 20 ng/mL, and vitamin D insufficiency was defined as a 25(OH)D level of between 20 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between December 2007 and June 2011, 178 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma had their vitamin D levels checked at the time of initial visit at this center. Of these 178 patients, 87 (49%) had vitamin D deficiency, and 44 (25%) had vitamin D insufficiency. The median 25(OH)D level was significantly lower among nonwhite patients and among patients with stage I and II disease. A 25(OH)D level of less than 20 ng/mL was found to be associated with poor prognosis (p = 0.0019) in patients with stage III and IV disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency were prevalent among patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The vitamin D level appears to be prognostic for patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and its effects should be further examined in a prospective study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Washington University in St, Louis, St, Louis, MO, USA. awang@dom.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: May
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Parvin F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Peddi
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Albert C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lockhart
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang-Gillam
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D