YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE TOXLINE (1981 FORWARD, NON-ROYALTY) FILE. ==VITAMIN D AND NEOPLASMS== 6 AUTHOR Hanchette CL AUTHOR Schwartz GG TITLE Geographic patterns of prostate cancer mortality. Evidence for a protective effect of ultraviolet radiation. SOURCE Cancer; VOL 70, ISS 12, 1992, P2861-9 ABSTRACT BACKGROUND. Prostate cancer is the most prevalent nonskin cancer among men in the United States and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. The cause of prostate cancer remains obscure. Recently it was hypothesized that low levels of vitamin D, a hormone with potent antitumor properties, may increase the risk for clinical prostate cancer. METHODS. Because the major source of vitamin D is casual exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the authors examined the geographic distributions of UV radiation and prostate cancer mortality in 3073 counties of the contiguous United States using linear regression and trend surface analyses. RESULTS. The geographic distributions of UV radiation and prostate cancer mortality are correlated inversely (P < 0.0001). Prostate cancer mortality exhibits a significant north-south trend, with lower rates in the South. These geographic patterns are not readily explicable by other known risk factors for prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS. These data lend support to the hypothesis that UV radiation may protect against clinical prostate cancer. Viewed in conjunction with other recent data, including those demonstrating a differentiating effect of vitamin D on human prostate cancer cells, these findings suggest that vitamin D may have an important role in the natural history of prostate cancer. 4 AUTHOR Newmark HL TITLE Vitamin D adequacy: a possible relationship to breast cancer. SOURCE Adv Exp Med Biol; VOL 364, 1994, P109-14 (REF: 41) ABSTRACT (1) Low levels of dietary calcium and vitamin D, biochemically interrelated, increase the promoting action of high dietary fat on chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis in animal studies. (2) High dietary fat increases mammary epithelial cell proliferation, particularly the "hormonally driven" hyperproliferation during breast growth and development in young animals. Increased dietary calcium (and probably vitamin D) lessens the increase of proliferation induced by high fat. These data, although limited, suggest that the maximum effect of diet (high fat increase, as well as calcium and vitamin D modulation) on eventual breast cancer may be during puberty, and adolescence, when the mammary gland is actively growing and developing. (3) An inverse epidemiological correlation has been developed between sunlight availability as a source of vitamin D and the risk of breast cancer in the U.S. and Canada. (4) Current vitamin D and calcium dietary intake in the U.S. is far below the RDA in all female age groups, particularly for the elderly. (5) Reduction of breast cancer risk, and simultaneously osteoporosis, might be achieved by increasing dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D to RDA levels. This may be particularly applicable to females during puberty and adolescence. 9 AUTHOR Simard A AUTHOR Vobecky J AUTHOR Vobecky JS TITLE Vitamin D deficiency and cancer of the breast: an unprovocative ecological hypothesis. SOURCE Can J Public Health; VOL 82, ISS 5, 1991, P300-3 ABSTRACT It has been stated recently that atmospheric acid haze containing sulfur dioxide and sulfate crystals may lead to vitamin D deficiencies in exposed populations and increase breast cancer mortality, especially in Montreal. In view of the implications of this hypothesis, we have done a case-control study within the same cohort of women attending the Canadian National Breast Screening Study to check whether a depletion of vitamin D could be detected in the diet of breast cancer patients (n = 108) as compared to controls (n = 322) or a random sample of 1,141 women in our Montreal centre as well as 40 breast cancer cases for which precise food intake data were available by way of a 24-hour dietary journal. The mean daily intake of vitamin D of breast cancer cases was 1.65 +/- 2.48 I.U./kg while in 322 controls matched for age the mean intake was 1.34 +/- 1.17 (S.D.). It has to be pointed out that in the 5 years before diagnosis, cancer patients had not increased significantly their consumption of foods rich in vitamin D, namely milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter and fish. It has also to be stressed that, in relation to the recommended daily intake, twice as many breast cancer patients than controls had a higher consumption of vitamin D. 5 AUTHOR Ainsleigh HG TITLE Beneficial effects of sun exposure on cancer mortality. SOURCE Prev Med; VOL 22, ISS 1, 1993, P132-40 (REF: 43) ABSTRACT For more than 50 years, there has been documentation in the medical literature suggesting that regular sun exposure is associated with substantial decreases in death rates from certain cancers and a decrease in overall cancer death rates. Recent research suggests that this is a causal relationship that acts through the body's vitamin D metabolic pathways. The studies reviewed here show that (a) sunlight activation is our most effective source of vitamin D; (b) regular sunlight/vitamin D "intake" inhibits growth of breast and colon cancer cells and is associated with substantial decreases in death rates from these cancers; (c) metabolites of vitamin D have induced leukemia and lymphoma cells to differentiate, prolonged survival of leukemic mice, and produced complete and partial clinical responses in lymphoma patients having high vitamin D metabolite receptor levels in tumor tissue; (d) sunlight has a paradoxical relationship with melanoma, in that severe sunburning initiates melanoma whereas long-term regular sun exposure inhibits melanoma; (e) frequent regular sun exposure acts to cause cancers that have a 0.3% death rate with 2,000 U.S. fatalities per year and acts to prevent cancers that have death rates from 20-65% with 138,000 U.S. fatalities per year; (f) there is support in the medical literature to suggest that the 17% increase in breast cancer incidence during the 1991-1992 year may be the result of the past decade of pervasive anti-sun advisories from respected authorities, coinciding with effective sunscreen availability; and (g) trends in the epidemiological literature suggest that approximately 30,000 U.S. cancer deaths yearly would be averted by the widespread public adoption of regular, moderate sunning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) 10 AUTHOR Gorham ED AUTHOR Garland FC AUTHOR Garland CF TITLE Sunlight and breast cancer incidence in the USSR [see comments] SOURCE Int J Epidemiol; VOL 19, ISS 4, 1990, P820-4 ABSTRACT Epidemiological and laboratory evidence suggest that vitamin D may play a role in reducing risk of breast cancer. Lack of exposure to ultraviolet sunlight can increase the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, and may place some populations at higher risk of breast cancer. The association between total average annual sunlight energy striking the ground and age-adjusted breast cancer incidence rates in the USSR was evaluated. Breast cancer had a threefold range of incidence. Sunlight levels varied from 210 to 400 calories per cm2 per day. A statistically significant negative association was found between breast cancer incidence rates and total sunlight levels (R = -0.75, p = 0.001). The slope of the regression line corresponded to two additional cases per 100,000 per year for each reduction of 35 calories per cm2 of sunlight. The pattern of increased breast cancer incidence in regions of low solar radiation in the USSR is consistent with the geographical pattern seen for breast cancer mortality in the US and worldwide. A positive relationship between socioeconomic status and breast cancer incidence was also present in the Soviet Union, based on an approximate socioeconomic measure, the number of doctors per 1000 population (R = +0.89, p = 0.0001). The possibility that correlates of socioeconomic status, such as dietary, ethnic, or behavioural factors, could account for the association is discussed. 11 AUTHOR Palmer S TITLE Diet, nutrition, and cancer. SOURCE Prog Food Nutr Sci; VOL 9, ISS 3-4, 1985, P283-341 (REF: 402) ABSTRACT Evidence pertaining to the role of dietary factors in carcinogenesis comes from both epidemiological studies and laboratory experiments. In 1982, the Committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer of the National Research Council conducted a comprehensive evaluation of this evidence. That assessment as well as recent epidemiological and laboratory investigations suggest that a high fat diet is associated with increased susceptibility to cancer of different sites, particularly the breast and colon, and to a lesser extent, the prostate. Current data permit no definitive conclusions about other dietary macroconstituents including cholesterol, total caloric intake, protein, carbohydrates and total dietary fiber. Specific components of fiber, however, may have a protective effect against colon cancer. In epidemiological studies, frequent consumption of certain fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits and carotene-rich and cruciferous vegetables, is associated with a lower incidence of cancers at various sites. The specific components responsible for these effects are not clearly identified, although the epidemiological evidence appears to be most consistent for a protective effect of carotene on lung cancer and less so for vitamins A and C and various cancer sites. The laboratory evidence is most consistent for vitamin A deficiency and enhanced tumorigenesis, and for the ability of various nonnutritive components in cruciferous vegetables to block in-vivo carcinogenesis. The data for minerals and carcinogenesis are extremely limited, although preliminary evidence from both epidemiological and laboratory studies suggests that selenium may protect against overall cancer risk. Frequent consumption of cured, pickled, or smoked foods, possibly because they may contain nitrosamines or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, appears to increase the risk of esophageal or stomach cancer, however, the specific causative agents in these foods are not clearly identified. Excessive alcohol consumption among smokers appears to be associated with an elevated risk of cancers of the oral cavity, esophagus, larynx, and respiratory tract. The mechanisms of action of dietary factors on carcinogenesis are poorly understood. The NRC committee, and more recently, the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society have proposed interim dietary guidelines to lower the risk of cancer. These guidelines are consistent with general dietary recommendations proposed by U.S. government agencies for maintenance of good health.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)