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Serum levels of vitamin D metabolites and the subsequent risk of colon and rectal cancer in Finnish men

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Abstract

Experimental and human epidemiologic data suggest a protective rolefor vitamin D in large bowel cancer. To investigate this association, weconducted a nested case-control study within a Finnish clinical trial cohort.Cases (n = 146) were participants diagnosed with primary adenocarcinoma ofthe large bowel. Controls were matched (2:1) to cases on age, date ofbaseline blood draw, and study clinic. Prediagnostic serum levels of thevitamin D metabolites, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D), and1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-DIOHD) were used as primary exposure measures.The baseline geometric-mean serum level of 25-OH D was 11.6 percent lower incases than in controls (12.2 cf 13.8 ug/l, P = 0.01) while serum levels of1,25-DIOH D did not differ by case-control status. No association was seenbetween serum levels of 1,25-DIOH D and large bowel cancer risk. However, theestimated relative risk (RR) of large bowel cancer decreased with increasinglevel of serum 25-OH D and the associa tion was more pronounced for rectalcancer (55 cases; RR by quartile = 1.00, 0.93, 0.77, 0.37; trend P = 0.06).Neither exclusion of early cases nor multivariate adjustment for potentialconfounders materially altered these estimates. There was no evidence ofeffect modification by level of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or with other knownrisk-factors for large bowel cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, USA

    Joseph Tangrea, Philip Taylor, Jarmo Virtamo & Demetrius Albanes

  2. School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Universitycty, Baltimore, USA

    Kathy Helzlsouer

  3. National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, USA

    Pirjo Pietinen

  4. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA

    Bruce Hollis

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  1. Joseph Tangrea
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Tangrea, J., Helzlsouer, K., Pietinen, P. et al. Serum levels of vitamin D metabolites and the subsequent risk of colon and rectal cancer in Finnish men. Cancer Causes Control 8, 615–625 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018450531136

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