Pretreatment vitamin D level and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with breast cancer on the I-SPY trial (CALGB 150007/150015/ACRIN6657)

Impact of serum vitamin D on the response and prognosis in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Background

Several studies have recently reported that the relationships between serum vitamin D and the prognosis or the pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer. However, there are no data regarding the clinical impacts of the vitamin D in Japanese breast cancer patients so far.

Patients and methods

In the present study, a total of 250 patients with clinical Stage I–III primary breast cancer who were treated with NAC and subsequently underwent definitive surgery were included. Serum 25-hydroxvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were evaluated using blood samples obtained before NAC.

Results

The serum 25(OH)D was positively associated with age, and the serum 25(OH)D was significantly higher in postmenopausal women than that in pre/peri-menopausal women. Serum 25(OH)D level was not associated with the achievement of pathological complete response (pCR) in this cohort. The low 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with shorter time to distant recurrence (TTDR). According to the univariate analysis, high clinical stage before NAC (cStage III) and low serum 25(OH)D level were significantly associated with the shorter TTDR, and pCR was significantly associated with the longer TTDR. According to a multivariate analysis, low serum 25(OH)D level were independent poor prognostic factors for TTDR.

Conclusions

The low 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with poorer prognosis in Japanese women with operable breast cancer patients treated with NAC.

Vitamin D baseline levels at diagnosis of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that exerts its actions through ligation of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), a transcription factor of the nuclear receptor family. VDR has not only physiologic actions in calcium metabolism but also several other cellular effects through extensive binding to the DNA and modification of genome expression. In cancer, it has neoplasia-suppressive effects and various mechanisms of action mediating cancer cell inhibition have been described. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer. A role of the vitamin once the disease has been diagnosed is also probable.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that report on vitamin D levels (in the form of its main circulating metabolite, 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-OHD]) in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer was performed. Outcomes of interest included the levels of serum 25-OHD in patients with breast cancer, those of matched controlled, in studies that included controls, as well as respective percentages of patients and controls with deficient and insufficient 25-OHD levels.

RESULTS

A total of 25 studies (10 with controls and 15 without controls) provided data on the outcomes of interest. Populations from all continents, besides Australia, were represented in the studies. The mean level of 25-OHD in patients with breast cancer was 26.88 ng/mL (95% CI 22.8-30.96 ng/mL) and the mean level of 25-OHD in control patients was 31.41 ng/mL (95% CI 19.31-43.5 ng/mL). In the patients with breast cancer group, 45.28% (95% CI 24.37%-53.51%) had levels of 25-OHD below 20 ng/mL, whereas this percentage was 33.71% (95% CI 21.61%-45.82%) in controls. Similarly, 67.44% (95% CI 48.32%-86.55%) of patients with breast cancer had a baseline level of 25-OHD below 30 ng/mL, whereas this percentage was 33.71% (95% CI 21.61%-45.82%) in controls.

CONCLUSION

A high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is observed in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer and may be linked pathophysiologically with breast cancer development or progression. Therapeutic benefits may be provided by manipulation of the vitamin D pathway in breast cancer.

Vitamin D Resists Cyclophosphamide-Induced Genomic and DNA Damage in CHL Cells In Vitro and in Mice In Vivo

Vitamin D as an adjuvant therapy for cancer patients is hoped to have a beneficial outcome based on its physiological activity, but clinical trials so far by addition of vitamin D show unremarkable curative improvement, mechanism for explain this phenomena is not well-understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether vitamin D resists cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced genomic and DNA damage. In CHL cells in vitro, 1α,25-(OH)₂D₃ at 10, 50, and 100 nM was found to alleviate the frequency of chromosomal aberration with an alleviation range of 40.7-44.0%. There was a dose-dependent decrease for a proportion of γ-H2AX foci positive cells in response to an increase in 1α,25-(OH)₂D₃ concentration. Two vitamin D₃ injections of 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 IU suppressed CP-induced micronucleus formation in mice BMCs with an alleviation range of 36.7-44.5%, mitigated lymphocytes DNA damage reflected by lower tail DNA, tail length and olive tail moment parameter in comet assay. Vitamin D showed an antagonistic effect on CP-induced genomic and DNA damage. Our data suggest that vitamin D as an adjuvant combine antineoplastic drug with genotoxicity administer to tumor patients is contraindicant.

Impact of vitamin D on pathological complete response and survival following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: a retrospective study

Background

There has been interest in the potential benefit of vitamin D (VD) to improve breast cancer outcomes. Pre-clinical studies suggest VD enhances chemotherapy-induced cell death. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with not attaining a pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for operable breast cancer. We report the impact of VD on pCR and survival in an expanded cohort.

Methods

Patients from Iowa and Montpellier registries who had serum VD level measured before or during NAC were included. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as < 20 ng/mL. Pathological complete response was defined as no residual invasive disease in the breast and lymph nodes. Survival was defined from the date of diagnosis to the date of relapse (PFS) or date of death (OS).

Results

The study included 327 women. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with the odds of not attaining pCR (p = 0.04). Fifty-four patients relapsed and 52 patients died. In multivariate analysis, stage III disease, triple-negative (TN) subtype and the inability to achieve pCR were independently associated with inferior survival. Vitamin D deficiency was not significantly associated with survival in the overall sample; however a trend was seen in the TN (5-years PFS 60.4% vs. 72.3%, p = 0.3), and in the hormone receptor positive /human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) subgroups (5-years PFS 89% vs 78%, p = 0.056).

Conclusion

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the inability to reach pCR in breast cancer patients undergoing NAC.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4686-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association between Changes in Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Survival in Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Purpose

We investigated the changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) and the associations with pathologic complete response (pCR) and survival in patients with breast cancer.

Methods

Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured pre- and post-NCT in 374 patients between 2010 and 2013. Based on a cutoff of 20 ng/mL, patients were categorized into “either sufficient” or “both deficient” groups. The associations with clinicopathological data, including pCR and survival, were analyzed using multivariable analyses.

Results

Patients with either pre- or post-NCT sufficient 25(OH)D levels accounted for 23.8%, and the overall pCR rate was 25.9%. Most patients showed 25(OH)D deficiency at diagnosis and 65.8% showed decreased serum levels after NCT. Changes in 25(OH)D status were associated with postmenopause status, rural residence, baseline summer examination, and molecular phenotype, but not pCR. No association between survival and 25(OH)D status was found, including in the subgroup analyses based on molecular phenotypes.

Conclusion

Most Korean patients with breast cancer showed vitamin D deficiency at diagnosis and a significant decrease in the serum concentration after NCT. No association with oncologic outcomes was found. Therefore, although optimal management for vitamin D deficiency is urgent for skeletal health, further research is warranted to clearly determine the prognostic role of vitamin D in patients with breast cancer who are candidates for NCT.

Circulating Vitamin D and Overall Survival in Breast Cancer Patients: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies

Studies have shown that vitamin D could have a role in breast cancer survival; however, the evidence of the relationship between patients' vitamin D levels and their survival has been inconsistent. This meta-analysis explores possible dose-response relationships between vitamin D levels and overall survival by allowing for differences in vitamin D levels among populations of the various studies. Studies relating vitamin D (25-OH-D [25-hydroxyvitamin D]) levels in breast cancer patients with their survival were identified by searching PubMed and Embase. A pooled HR (hazard ratio) comparing the highest with the lowest category of circulating 25-OH-D levels were synthesized using the Mantel-Haenszel method under a fixed-effects model. A two-stage fixed-effects dose-response model including both linear (a log-linear dose-response regression) and nonlinear (a restricted cubic spline regression) models were used to further explore possible dose-response relationships. Six studies with a total number of 5984 patients were identified. A pooled HR comparing the highest with the lowest category of circulating 25-OH-D levels under a fixed-effects model was 0.67 (95% confidence interval = 0.56-0.79, P < .001). Utilizing a dose-response meta-analysis, the pooled HR for overall survival in breast cancer patients was 0.994 (per 1 nmol/L), Pfor linear trend < .001. At or above a 23.3 nmol/L threshold, for a 10 nmol/L, 20 nmol/L, or 25 nmol/L increment in circulating 25-OH-D levels, the risk of breast cancer overall mortality decreased by 6%, 12%, and 14%, respectively. There was no significant nonlinearity in the relationship between overall survival and circulating 25-OH-D levels. Our findings suggest that there is a highly significant linear dose-response relationship between circulating 25-OH-D levels and overall survival in patients with breast cancer. However, better designed prospective cohort studies and clinical trials are needed to further confirm these findings.

Serum Vitamin D Levels Affect Pathologic Complete Response in Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy for Operable Breast Cancer

INTRODUCTION

There has been increasing interest in the potential benefit of vitamin D in improving breast cancer outcome. Preclinical studies suggest that vitamin D enhances chemotherapy-induced cell death. We investigated the impact of serum vitamin D levels during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on the rates of achieving pathologic complete response (pCR) after breast cancer NAC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients from 1 of 2 Iowa registries who had serum vitamin D level measured before or during NAC were included. French patients enrolled onto a previous study of the impact of NAC on vitamin D and bone metabolism were also eligible for this study. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as < 20 ng/mL. pCR was defined as no residual invasive disease in breast and lymph nodes. A Firth penalized logistic regression multivariable model was used.

RESULTS

The study included 144 women. There was no difference between the French and Iowan cohorts with regard to age at diagnosis (P = .20), clinical stage (P = .22), receptor status (P = .32), and pCR rate (P = .34). French women had lower body mass index (mean 24.8 vs. 28.8, P < .01) and lower vitamin D levels (mean 21.5 vs. 27.5, P < .01) compared to Iowan patients. In multivariable analysis, after adjusting for the effects of cohort, clinical stage, and receptor status, vitamin D deficiency increased the odds of not attaining pCR by 2.68 times (95% confidence interval, 1.12-6.41, P = .03).

CONCLUSION

Low serum vitamin D levels were associated with not attaining a pCR. Prospective trials could elucidate if maintaining vitamin D levels during NAC, a highly modifiable variable, may be utilized to improve cancer outcomes.

BRAF signals to pro-apoptotic BIM to enhance AraC cytotoxicity induced in AML cells by Vitamin D-based differentiation agents

Vitamin D has so far not fulfilled its early promise as an antineoplastic agent, in spite of compelling in vitro data. With the aim of bringing vitamin D or its derivatives (VDDs) effectively to the clinic, we developed a two-pronged approach. First, by adding the plant-derived Carnosic Acid (CA) to a vitamin D2 derivative Doxercalciferol we increased its differentiation potency without increasing it hypercalcemic properties. Second, we added these two agents together to AML cells already treated with Cytarabine (AraC), the standard drug for the treatment of patients with AML. We now report that BRAF, a part of the MAPK signaling pathway, is required for the optimally increased cell death in this system and acts upstream of BIM, the regulator of the caspase cascade that leads to cell death by apoptosis. It is proposed that this therapeutic regimen should be tested in a clinical trial.

Association between Vitamin D deficiency and Breast Cancer

Objective:

To determine the association between vitamin D deficiency and breast cancer.

Methods:

This case control study included 94 female patients aged 20-75 years of any marital status and parity. Newly diagnosed 42 breast cancer patients who presented to surgical OPD of Dow University Hospital from Jan 2016 to June 2016 were included into the study as “cases” after informed consent. Age-matched 52 females who presented to OPD for complain other than breast pathology were included as the “control group”. The sociodemographic of both cases and controls and histopathological characteristics of cases were recorded. Serum 25-(OH)2D levels were studied by the ELISA technique and recorded in ng/ml. Vitamin D deficiency was considered at serum level less than 20 ng/ml.

Results:

Mean age was 40.1 Years for controls and 47.6 Years for cases. Mean height, weight and BMI did not differ between cases and controls. Serum Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in cases (85.7%) than controls (55.8%). The unadjusted and adjusted ORs for breast cancer in cases and controls showed a statistically significantly increased risk of breast cancer with low vitamin D concentration (p value0.003). After adjustment for age, parity, BMI, sun exposure, economic status and education status the ORs (95% CIs) for breast cancer risk was7.8 (1.99 - 30.58) for women with vitamin D concentrations <20 ng/mL.

Conclusion:

Findings of our study conclude that vitamin D deficiency is associated with risk of breast cancer.

The impact of vitamin D pathway genetic variation and circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D on cancer outcome: systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Vitamin D has been linked with improved cancer outcome. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the relationship between cancer outcomes and both vitamin D-related genetic variation and circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of papers until November 2016 on PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science pertaining to association between circulating vitamin D level, functionally relevant vitamin D receptor genetic variants and variants within vitamin D pathway genes and cancer survival or disease progression was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 44 165 cases from 64 studies were included in meta-analyses. Higher 25OHD was associated with better overall survival (hazard ratio (HR=0.74, 95% CI: 0.66-0.82) and progression-free survival (HR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.77-0.91). The rs1544410 (BsmI) variant was associated with overall survival (HR=1.40, 95% CI: 1.05-1.75) and rs7975232 (ApaI) with progression-free survival (HR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.02-1.56). The rs2228570 (FokI) variant was associated with overall survival in lung cancer patients (HR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.0-1.57), with a suggestive association across all cancers (HR=1.26, 95% CI: 0.96-1.56).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher 25OHD concentration is associated with better cancer outcome, and the observed association of functional variants in vitamin D pathway genes with outcome supports a causal link. This analysis provides powerful background rationale to instigate clinical trials to investigate the potential beneficial effect of vitamin D in the context of stratification by genotype.

Reducing the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: an Evaluation of the Effects and Mechanisms of Diet and Exercise

With recent medical advances in diagnosis and treatment, the increasing numbers of long-term survivors of breast cancer is considerable and has resulted in the expansion of scientific research to include examination of lifestyle modifications as means of prevention of recurrence, new breast cancer events, and mortality. The objective of this report is to review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including diet and/or exercise interventions on breast cancer recurrence in women with a history of breast cancer as well as pertinent recent epidemiologic evidence. Implicated biologic mechanisms are discussed to elucidate the impact of diet and exercise on disease recurrence.

DNA Repair in Despair-Vitamin D Is Not Fair

The role of vitamin D as a treatment option for neoplastic diseases, once considered to have a bright future, remains controversial. The preclinical studies discussed herein show compelling evidence that Vitamin D Derivatives (VDDs) can convert some cancer and leukemia cells to a benign phenotype, by differentiation/maturation, cell cycle arrest, or induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, there is considerable, though still evolving, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes. However, the attempts to clearly document that the treatment outcomes of human neoplastic diseases can be positively influenced by VDDs have been, so far, disappointing. The clinical trials to date of VDDs, alone or combined with other agents, have not shown consistent results. It is our contention, shared by others, that there were limitations in the design or execution of these trials which have not yet been fully addressed. Based on the connection between upregulation of JNK by VDDs and DNA repair, we propose a new avenue of attack on cancer cells by increasing the toxicity of the current, only partially effective, cancer chemotherapeutic drugs by combining them with VDDs. This can impair DNA repair and thus kill the malignant cells, warranting a comprehensive study of this novel concept. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 1733-1744, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Vitamin D (25-0H D3) status and pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage II/III breast cancer: Data from the NEOZOTAC trial (BOOG 10-01)

BACKGROUND

Serum levels of 25-OH vitamin D3 (vitamin D) have been shown to be prognostic for disease-free survival in patients with breast cancer. We investigated the predictive value of these levels for pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer taking part in the NEOZOTAC phase-III trial. Additionally, the effect of chemotherapy on vitamin D levels was studied.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Serum vitamin D was measured at baseline and before the last cycle of chemotherapy. The relationship between these measurements and clinical outcome, as defined by pathological complete response in breast and lymph nodes (pCR) was examined.

RESULTS

Baseline and end of treatment vitamin D data were available in 169 and 91 patients, respectively. Median baseline vitamin D values were 58.0 nmol/L. In patients treated with chemotherapy only, serum vitamin D levels decreased during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (median decrease of 16 nmol/L, P = 0.003). The prevalence of vitamin D levels < 50 nmol/L increased from 38.3% at baseline to 55.9% after chemotherapy. In the total population, baseline and end of therapy vitamin D levels were not related to pathological response. No associations were found between pCR and vitamin D level changes.

CONCLUSION

The significant decrease in vitamin D post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy suggests that vitamin D levels should be monitored and in case of decrease of vitamin D levels, correction may be beneficial for skeletal health and possibly breast cancer outcome.

Prognostic associations of 25 hydroxy vitamin D in NCIC CTG MA.21, a phase III adjuvant randomized clinical trial of three chemotherapy regimens in high-risk breast cancer

Low vitamin D levels have been associated with poor breast cancer outcomes in observational studies. We examined the association of vitamin D blood levels with relapse-free survival (RFS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and overall survival (OS) in the MA.21 randomized clinical trial. Fasting blood was collected pre-chemotherapy in 934/2104 (44.4 %) of subjects; 25 hydroxy vitamin D was measured (radioimmunoassay, Diasorin) in one batch. Vitamin D was assessed as a transformed continuous factor, and categorically (quartiles and clinical classifications). Univariate and multivariate prognostic analyses (adjusted for treatment, stratification factors, and baseline imbalances) were performed using Cox models. Most patients were young (median 47.8 years), white (91.6 %) and premenopausal (69.4 %) with grade III (52 %), HER2 negative or missing (89.5 %), ER positive (61.9 %), T1-2 (89.4 %), N + (72.7 %) breast cancer. Compared to the full population, those with vitamin D levels were more likely to be white, PS 1 or 2, to have undergone mastectomy, and to have an ER + tumor. Mean vitamin D was 69.7 nmol/L (27.9 ng/ml) and did not vary by tumor subtype. The majority (80.5 %) had levels >50 nmol/L (20 ng/ml), considered adequate by Institute of Medicine. Continuous vitamin D was not multivariately associated with RFS, BCSS, or OS (p = 0.36, 0.26, 0.33, respectively); categorical vitamin D was also not associated with outcome. Vitamin D associations with RFS did not differ within ER/HER2 subgroups. There was no evidence that vitamin D blood level was associated with RFS, BCSS, and OS in MA.21; the majority of subjects had adequate vitamin D levels at study entry.