Vitamin D as a Potential Preventive Agent For Young Women's Breast Cancer
Open Access
- 9 July 2021
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Cancer Prevention Research
- Vol. 14 (9), 825-838
- https://doi.org/10.1158/1940-6207.capr-21-0114
Abstract
Clinical studies backed by research in animal models suggest that vitamin D may protect against the development of breast cancer, implicating vitamin D as a promising candidate for breast cancer prevention. However, despite clear pre-clinical evidence showing protective roles for vitamin D, broadly targeted clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation have yielded conflicting findings, highlighting the complexity of translating pre-clinical data to efficacy in humans. While vitamin D supplementation targeted to high-risk populations is a strategy anticipated to increase prevention efficacy, a complimentary approach is to target transient, developmental windows of elevated breast cancer risk. Postpartum mammary gland involution represents a developmental window of increased breast cancer promotion that may be poised for vitamin D supplementation. Targeting the window of involution with short-term vitamin D intervention may offer a simple, cost-effective approach for the prevention of breast cancers that develop postpartum. In this review, we highlight epidemiologic and preclinical studies linking vitamin D deficiency with breast cancer development. We discuss the underlying mechanisms through which vitamin D deficiency contributes to cancer development, with an emphasis on the anti-inflammatory activity of vitamin D. We also discuss current evidence for vitamin D as an immunotherapeutic agent and the potential for vitamin D as a preventative strategy for young woman's breast cancer.Keywords
Funding Information
- NCI (R01CA169175)
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