Low Levels of Vitamin D in a Cohort of Women with Impalpable Breast Lesions from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil

Abstract

Background: Low levels of vitamin D have been described as a risk factor for the development of breast cancer.<br />The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum levels of vitamin D (25OHD) in patients with impalpable breast lesions<br />comparing with a control group. Methods: Vitamin D quantification (25OHD) was assessed in the plasma of 65 patients<br />with impalpable breast lesions and from 20 health controls using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay.<br />Pearson's chi-square test and nonparametric t-Student were used to evaluate statistical significance between the clinical<br />variables and the means of quantification of vitamin D. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to<br />evaluate the correlation between age and vitamin sufficiency for the cases and the controls. Results: The prevalence of<br />vitamin D deficiency and/or insufficiency in women with malignant lesions was 84% and 60% for the control group.<br />Using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, the relationship between vitamin D levels and age presented significant<br />association only for the control group (P=0.002). Using ROC curve, the plot area (0.778) for the control group defined<br />a cut-off value of 45 years to age, with specificity and sensitivity of 60% and 50%, respectively. Thus, the odds ratio<br />for vitamin D insufficiency in women over 45 years was 1.37 (P=0.011). For the case group, clinical characteristics,<br />histological grade, and lymph node involvement did not show any significant association. Conclusion: The prevalence of<br />vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is high in women with impalpable breast lesions, as well as in the control group,<br />even in a tropical city. According to the results the age advancement may be involved with the decrease in vitamin D<br />levels in plasma, but there was no statistical association between low levels of Vitamin D and breast cancer.