Vitamin D Supplementation Decreases Serum 27-hydroxycholesterol in a Pilot Breast Cancer Trial

Overview

Journal Breast Cancer Res Treat

Specialty Oncology

Date 2017 Nov 9

PMID 29116467

Citations 11

Authors

Catherine C Going

Ludmila Alexandrova

Kenneth Lau

Christine Y Yeh

David Feldman

Sharon J Pitteri

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC), an endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), drives the growth of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)D), the active metabolite of vitamin D, is known to inhibit expression of CYP27B1, which is very similar in structure and function to CYP27A1, the synthesizing enzyme of 27HC. Therefore, we hypothesized that 1,25(OH)D may also inhibit expression of CYP27A1, thereby reducing 27HC concentrations in the blood and tissues that express CYP27A1, including breast cancer tissue.

Methods: 27HC, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), and 1,25(OH)D were measured in sera from 29 breast cancer patients before and after supplementation with low-dose (400 IU/day) or high-dose (10,000 IU/day) vitamin D in the interval between biopsy and surgery.

Results: A significant increase (p = 4.3E-5) in 25OHD and a decrease (p = 1.7E-1) in 27HC was observed in high-dose versus low-dose vitamin D subjects. Excluding two statistical outliers, 25OHD and 27HC levels were inversely correlated (p = 7.0E-3).

Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation can decrease circulating 27HC of breast cancer patients, likely by CYP27A1 inhibition. This suggests a new and additional modality by which vitamin D can inhibit ER+ breast cancer growth, though a larger study is needed for verification.

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