Women who get lots of vitamin D are less likely to develop breast cancer, suggests a pair of studies presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The research results add to the already strong evidence that the "sunshine vitamin" helps prevent many types of cancer.
According to one study, high levels of vitamin D translated into a 50-percent lower risk of breast cancer. Even modestly higher levels of the vitamin resulted in a 10-percent less risk of acquiring the disease, which would translate to 20,000 fewer cases a year if it were true of all American women.
The second study, by Canadian researchers, found that women who spent time outdoors or had a high dietary intake of vitamin D--especially as teens--were 25-percent to
45-percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women with lower intake of the nutrient.
"Exposure to vitamin D at the time breasts are developing, particularly around adolescence, might be important," says Julia Knight, a researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
