Vitamin D Independently Associated With Worse Melanoma Outcomes

Source: Clinical Oncology, April 2016

According to researchers at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and several other institutions, low vitamin D levels in melanoma patients are associated with poorer overall survival, disease-free survival and increased melanoma-specific mortality (J Clin Oncol 2016 Mar 21.doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.64.1357. [Epub ahead of print]).

While the findings add to an existing body of literature showing such an association, the results are the first to demonstrate that the link persists after controlling for potential confounders, such as systemic inflammation, the authors indicated.

“[T]he current investigation is the first, to our knowledge, to report a significant, independent association between lower vitamin D levels and poorer melanoma survival after adjustment for the influence of the [systemic inflammatory response] through simultaneous measurement of [C-reactive protein (CRP)],” they wrote.