Vitamin-D status at breast cancer diagnosis: correlation with social and environmental factors and dietary intake

Background: serum levels of vitamin-d are low in breast cancer patients. vitamin-d levels have inverse correlations with postmenopausal state,obesity,poor sun exposure and low intake of vitamin-d rich diet. the objective of this study was to quantify levels of vitamin-d in serum to determine the degree of vitamin-d deficiency in breast cancer patients compared with age matched controls and to observe the association between serum 25-oh vitamin-d levels and personal and social parameters,bmi,amount of sun exposure and dietary intake.methods: in this cross-sectional analytical study all newly diagnosed breast cancer female patients were recruited into the study over a period of 6 months. age matched healthy females were also recruited as a control group. personal and social data was documented on to a pro forma. sun exposure was determined by mid-day exposure to direct sunlight. serum 25-ohd levels were studied by elisa technique on the blood samples. the dietary information was collected by recall over the last 1 year.results: vitamin-d deficiency was found in 99% breast cancer females and 90% in healthy females. mean serum vitamin-d level was 9.6 ± 5 ng/ml and 15.2 ± 10 ng/ml for cases and control group respectively. all breast cancer and 95% healthy females with bmi > 30 were found to be vitamin-d deficient. menopausal state,parity,parda (veil) observation,area of living and sun exposure did not affect vitamin-d status in either group. egg,fish and cheese intake revealed correlation with vitamin-d deficiency. forty percent healthy females were found to have deficient serum vitamin-d levels despite being on supplement.conclusion: vitamin-d deficiency was highly prevalent among breast cancer females. serum 25 ohd levels exhibited an inverse correlation with high body mass index and vitamin-d rich diet.