ASCO: Vitamin D May Play Role in Breast Cancer Survival

By Peggy Peck
ALEXANDRIA, Va., 17 may 2008 -- A pair of breast cancer trials, described in this MedPage Today audio report, kicked off a pre-meeting release of more than 5,000 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting abstracts.
One trial hinted at a role for higher vitamin D in breast cancer survival and the second pointed to a return to mastectomy versus conservative surgery, particularly after pre-operative MRI.
In an unusual decision, ASCO's meeting organizers decided to lift embargoes on "all but the most important papers and late-breaking abstracts," said Julie Gralow, M.D., of the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The abstracts are available online at the ASCO Web site, she said.
Pamela Goodwin, M.D., of the University of Toronto, said her study of 512 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer found that only 24% of the women had the recommended level of vitamin D, and low vitamin D was associated with a higher risk of distant metastases and worse survival (P =0.02). But the study did not prove causality.
Mathew Goetz, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, reported that a 10-year series of women who underwent breast cancer surgery at the Mayo Clinic revealed a return to use of mastectomy. It appeared to be at least partly due to increased use of pre-operative MRI, which was associated with an 11% higher mastectomy rate.