Archief Roodbont

Abstract

The association is not clear-cut, according to an assessment of data from the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.

Introduction

Ultraviolet radiation has various deleterious effects but a positive influence on vitamin D metabolism. Dermatologists typically recommend that patients use sunscreen and take other precautions to prevent sunburn, nonmelanoma skin cancer, melanoma, and cutaneous photoaging. This practice is increasingly being scrutinized because much of the population is vitamin D deficient and because several healthful effects have been attributed to vitamin D, including a potential cancer-protection effect. To assess the association between baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25[OH]D) and cancer mortality, researchers prospectively examined data on 16,819 participants in the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III). Levels of 25(OH)D were measured once, in spring or summer in higher latitudes and in fall or winter in lower latitudes.

During a mean follow-up of 13.4 years, 884 participants died of cancer. Cancer mortality did not correlate with serum 25(OH)D in the total population or in men and women analyzed separately. However, men with 25(OH)D levels >80 nmol/L had a significantly higher cancer mortality rate than those with levels <50>