Short Report

Dietary vitamin D intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in relation to disease outcomes in head and neck cancer patients

  1. François Meyer1,†,*,
  2. Geoffrey Liu2,
  3. Pierre Douville1,
  4. Élodie Samson1,
  5. Wei Xu3,
  6. Araba Adjei4,
  7. Isabelle Bairati1

Article first published online: 7 JUN 2010

DOI: 10.1002/ijc.25496

Issue

International Journal of Cancer

International Journal of Cancer

Volume 128, Issue 7, pages 1741–1746, 1 April 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Meyer, F., Liu, G., Douville, P., Samson, É., Xu, W., Adjei, A. and Bairati, I. (2011), Dietary vitamin D intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in relation to disease outcomes in head and neck cancer patients. International Journal of Cancer, 128: 1741–1746. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25496

Author Information

  1. 1

    Clinical Epidemiology, Laval University Cancer Research Center, Quebec, QC, Canada

  2. 2

    Department of Applied Molecular Oncology, Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

  3. 3

    Department of Biostatistics, Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

  4. 4

    Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY

  1. †

    Tel.: +418-525-4444 (ext. 15581), Fax: +418-691-2970

*Laval University Cancer Research Center, CHUQ—HDQ, 11, cote du palais, Quebec, Quebec, Canada G1R 2J6

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 28 JAN 2011
  2. Article first published online: 7 JUN 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 12 MAY 2010
  4. Manuscript Received: 25 FEB 2010

Funded by

  • National Cancer Institute of Canada, Canadian Cancer Society. Grant Numbers: 4738, 8176, 13211
  • National Institutes of Health, USA. Grant Number: RO3 CA141615-01

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Keywords:

  • cancer;
  • head and neck;
  • prognosis;
  • vitamin D;
  • diet;
  • serum;
  • recurrence;
  • second primary cancer;
  • survival

Abstract

Low pretreatment vitamin D status has been associated with worsened disease outcomes in patients with cancer at various sites. Its prognostic significance in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients has not been studied. Patients with HNC who participated in a randomized trial were evaluated for: (i) total intake of vitamin D from diet and supplements using a validated food frequency questionnaire (all trial participants, n = 540) and (ii) pretreatment serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D through a radioimmunoassay (n = 522). The association of dietary/serum measures of vitamin D status with HNC recurrence, second primary cancer (SPC) incidence, and overall mortality was evaluated using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. There was no significant association between dietary or serum vitamin D measures and the three HNC outcomes. The hazard ratios (HRs) comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of dietary/supplemental vitamin D intake were 1.10 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66–1.84) for recurrence, 1.05 (95% CI: 0.63–1.74) for SPC, and 1.27 (95% CI: 0.87–1.84) for overall mortality. HRs comparing the uppermost to the lowest quartile of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were 1.12 (95% CI: 0.65–1.93) for recurrence, 0.72 (95% CI: 0.40–1.30) for SPC, and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.57–1.28) for overall mortality. There was no effect modification by cancer stage, season of initial treatment, or trial arm. Among patients with HNC, vitamin D status before treatment does not influence disease outcomes. Our results contrast with those from most published studies, which suggest prognostic significance of vitamin D status in cancer patients at least in subgroups.

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